Just a Little Old: Lasting lessons from Hurricane Ian - Press Herald

“No man is an island entire of itself;
every man is a piece of the continent.
a part of the main.”

– John Donne

After hurricane Ian smashed Florida’s Gulf Coast, I called my sister Martha who lives in Venice, Florida. As it happened, her husband Karl was recovering from heart surgery in a Sarasota hospital, and she was staying with neighborhood friends. She considers herself fortunate because they’re back together in their own home with the power on after a five-day outage.

Martha was indeed fortunate compared with the poor souls in other Gulf Coast towns, cities and barrier islands that got a direct hit. One can only admire the resilience of these people. “I’m just glad to be alive.” or “We’ll rebuild.” Those who had little to give shared what little they had.

And that’s one of Ian’s lessons: The power of the human spirit to carry us through our most difficult challenges.

And here’s another lesson: We’re at our best when we realize we’re all in this together. Neighbor and neighbor. Blue states and red states. The stricken and the safe. America and the rest of the world.

And yet another. Reagan was wrong when he claimed, “Government isn’t the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” Small government advocates cheered that boast at the time, but hurricane victims needing food and water and shelter in Florida we’re grateful for government assistance.

And still one more. Politicians can work together on behalf of the common good if they but choose to do so. President Joe Biden and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis both demonstrated real leadership, compassion and cooperation. Let’s hope we will see more of that kind of cooperation at all levels of government in the future.

And then there’s the matter of climate change. Warming temperatures have caused many more extreme weather events like hurricane Ian. Fortunately, the leaders of many other nations are taking this issue more seriously than we are. Too many politicians in Washington scoff at the science, putting short-term profits (or political gain) over long-term survival. Climate change is, indeed, real and we must pull together before it’s too late.

It’s tempting for many people, including this writer, to get discouraged by all the horrific events occurring in America and around the world today. Putin’s megalomaniac moves. Iran’s crackdowns on women’s rights. Rattled financial markets, here and abroad. The immigration crises on the borders of many nations. The threats to democracy in America, led by the boorish behavior and manic mumblings of the former President. And on and on.

On the home front, let’s hope we can get more Americans to realize the importance of taking care of each other in good times and bad, like the people in Florida are doing in the wake of hurricane Ian. Let’s hope that “Christians” who supported the former President because he promised to stack the Supreme Court with anti-abortion justices would reassess their notion of what it really means to be a Christian. (Hint: It’s not about bashing “woke” socialists or bringing guns to church.)

Let’s heed the words of poet John Donne (“No man is an island”) And let’s recall the spirit of Anne Frank, the young girl who wrote in her diary, “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”

David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary and suggestions for future “Just a Little Old” columns. [email protected]