Make. Someone. Happy.
Last Thursday/Friday, Calgary became a stronger city, a more neighbourly city and I am proud to be a Calgarian. Our city has flooded. And I mean flooded! It is devastating. And although I was not directly affected I feel such a sadness in my heart for the people who were. Calgary was fortunate.. we were not hit nearly has hard as some of our neighbours in southern Alberta. I feel so terrible for them. Our city was flooded back in 2005 but it was not nearly as bad as this. This time, the bow River and Elbow River which flow right through our city went well over their banks and were rushing into our city streets. Brian was told not to go to work on Friday as the city of Calgary was under a state of emergency, and as we played with our children on Friday, I could not keep my eyes off of the television or stop listening to the radio.. I was completely pulled in and feeling terrible about what was happening. I believe close to 100,000 people were evacuated from 25 (I think) communities in Calgary. The City's entire core was shut down and under mandatory evacuation. The city was in a panic, all the stores were FULL of people buying water and stocking up on their food storage. It was insane. Over the weekend, they announced that the downtown area would be closed until Wednesday, today. I never would have thought it would have been bad enough to shut down the entire downtown of a city of a million people. That is crazy!
Now, I am no news channel so I don't know the exact details of it all, I don't know exactly how high our rivers got, and not all the pictures on here were taken by me.. the first 8 photos and the one photo of the train tracks are from google and Facebook, but I do know one thing.. after seeing the complete devastation to our City, I knew I needed to help. My mind had been filled with images like these ones for days..
And pictures don't even being to do justice. This is what I learned, when I saw it for myself.. even days after the worse was over. Our entire City is a HUGE MESS.
I simply could not fathom how bad it actually was. I would see the devastation on the news but then look out my window and my area was just fine. But for me, it was not easily forgotten. Because of the floods, Brian's work was also closed Monday and Tuesday. So yesterday, we go into our car and started to drive. Just to see. We got closer and closer to the core and it was worse and worse with every block. My heart started to crumble and I just kept saying to Brian.. "I cannot believe this" It was so much worse in person. The water was still so much higher than normal, but a lot lower than it was. Trees were fallen over into the rush of the water..
And this fun pedestrian bridge was completely destroyed.
You can see how much the water has gone down.. the water was hitting that bridge and the current was so fast. Then I caught a glimpse of someones beautiful home which probably once had a beautiful backyard and a fence. Notice the dark house on the left.. The water went right up their stairs and right into their house.. then look at the lighter house on the right.. their basement doors are down a large slope.. i cannot even imagine how the water destroyed these houses.
We went over to Prince's Island Park. A Park I love. I love taking photos at this park.. it is usually so beautiful, well taken care of and such a wonderful landmark for our city. It too was a disaster.
Mud EVERYWHERE! You can tell how high the water got when you see this next picture... there are probably 7 or 8 stairs here usually.. and they are completely covered in mud and clay.
The ground was all torn up..
And there was debris all over the place.
I am so proud to say we live in such an amazing City, where they are not short of volunteers and people working literally around the clock to put the city back to normal.
We then headed towards the core... as close as we could get really. It was so sad to see all the underground parking garages being pumped out and to see our once clean city, looking so muddy.
Then, as we headed home we went through the communities that got hit the hardest. My heart felt broken as I drove around seeing all of these courages people looking through their homes which were now completely destroyed. Everyone had their whole lives sitting on the curb.
Residents and volunteers walking around EVERYWHERE completely covered from head to toe in mud!
Peoples couches and bookshelves, tv's and carpets.. all over their front lawn.. garbage.
And then I saw a lady who had my whole body cringing with the desire to help. As we passed this huge pile of hardwood flooring..
our car came to a stop in bumper to bumper traffic. I looked around and notice a lady sitting on her front step, covered in mud, just watching her husband and probably 8 year old son hauling their once beautiful hardwood flooring into a large pile on their front road. She looked defeated, she looked so sad and helpless and I knew in that moment I wanted.. I NEEDED to do something to make her smile. Even if it was just her. Brian and I thought about the many opportunities to volunteer, but we had our two boys in the backseat and couldn't just get out and help them while keeping our kids in the car. But we knew we needed to help. So after a little bit of thought, we decided what better way to help in this very moment than to bring these wonderful people and volunteers a BBQ! We rushed to Costco and picked up a couple of flats of pop, a box of granola bars, some rags and gloves for them and then went to DQ and ordered 40 single cheeseburgers! Dairy Queen was awesome! We told them we were going to bring them to the people who lived in the areas affected by the floods and they only charged us $2 per hamburger instead of $4.50! It was awesome!
We told Carter that tonight, we were going to make sad people happy! He was so excited to help! So while both boys sat in their carseats, Brian and I drove down all the streets and stopped everytime we saw people covered in mud or working at their house doing their best to put a little bit of normal back into their lives.
As we were stopped, a couple of police officers came up to us and asked us if we lived in the area, we explained that we didn't but that we lived far south and wanted to come here tonight to make some people happy. They were so nice, and friendly, Carter also was excited to see them.
They told us that it was horrific what happened and how much they appreciated us coming to help in anyway possible. That is who we are.. we are Calgarian! The streets were a mess, and what once was a super colourful city, just looked .. blah!
We continued on our way, but not before the wonderful cops gave Carter a badge for helping to "Make people Happy".. he was so proud!
And before we headed back, Brian made sure to drive by that sweet lady's house.. the one I saw sitting so helplessly on her front step watching her entire home being uprooted. I was thankful they were still there. We pulled over and I wanted to jump out of the Car and give her a big hug .. but I didn't. I composed myself enough to ask them if they were hungry. She looked at us and said "We just ate some sandwiches so we are good, but thank you so much!" With a HUGE smile on her face. Everything was worth it. I just wanted to see her smile and I did. That made my entire night a success.
Have you ever read Robert Munch Book "Have you filled a bucket today?" Its about how everyone in the whole wide world has an invisible bucket.. we all carry it around everyday but you cant see it. When someones bucket is full, they feel happy. When someones bucket is empty, they feel sad or lonely. You can fill someone else's buckets by doing or saying nice things to them and you can dip into someones bucket by doing to saying mean things to them. You can fill your own bucket when you fill someone else's. Today, we filled someones bucket. And it made us feel so wonderful to be able to help even in the simplest ways. I am excited to be teaching my boys how to make someone Happy. And I am excited to be a Calgarian.
Now, I am no news channel so I don't know the exact details of it all, I don't know exactly how high our rivers got, and not all the pictures on here were taken by me.. the first 8 photos and the one photo of the train tracks are from google and Facebook, but I do know one thing.. after seeing the complete devastation to our City, I knew I needed to help. My mind had been filled with images like these ones for days..
And pictures don't even being to do justice. This is what I learned, when I saw it for myself.. even days after the worse was over. Our entire City is a HUGE MESS.
I simply could not fathom how bad it actually was. I would see the devastation on the news but then look out my window and my area was just fine. But for me, it was not easily forgotten. Because of the floods, Brian's work was also closed Monday and Tuesday. So yesterday, we go into our car and started to drive. Just to see. We got closer and closer to the core and it was worse and worse with every block. My heart started to crumble and I just kept saying to Brian.. "I cannot believe this" It was so much worse in person. The water was still so much higher than normal, but a lot lower than it was. Trees were fallen over into the rush of the water..
And this fun pedestrian bridge was completely destroyed.
You can see how much the water has gone down.. the water was hitting that bridge and the current was so fast. Then I caught a glimpse of someones beautiful home which probably once had a beautiful backyard and a fence. Notice the dark house on the left.. The water went right up their stairs and right into their house.. then look at the lighter house on the right.. their basement doors are down a large slope.. i cannot even imagine how the water destroyed these houses.
We went over to Prince's Island Park. A Park I love. I love taking photos at this park.. it is usually so beautiful, well taken care of and such a wonderful landmark for our city. It too was a disaster.
Mud EVERYWHERE! You can tell how high the water got when you see this next picture... there are probably 7 or 8 stairs here usually.. and they are completely covered in mud and clay.
The ground was all torn up..
And there was debris all over the place.
I am so proud to say we live in such an amazing City, where they are not short of volunteers and people working literally around the clock to put the city back to normal.
We then headed towards the core... as close as we could get really. It was so sad to see all the underground parking garages being pumped out and to see our once clean city, looking so muddy.
Then, as we headed home we went through the communities that got hit the hardest. My heart felt broken as I drove around seeing all of these courages people looking through their homes which were now completely destroyed. Everyone had their whole lives sitting on the curb.
Residents and volunteers walking around EVERYWHERE completely covered from head to toe in mud!
Peoples couches and bookshelves, tv's and carpets.. all over their front lawn.. garbage.
And then I saw a lady who had my whole body cringing with the desire to help. As we passed this huge pile of hardwood flooring..
our car came to a stop in bumper to bumper traffic. I looked around and notice a lady sitting on her front step, covered in mud, just watching her husband and probably 8 year old son hauling their once beautiful hardwood flooring into a large pile on their front road. She looked defeated, she looked so sad and helpless and I knew in that moment I wanted.. I NEEDED to do something to make her smile. Even if it was just her. Brian and I thought about the many opportunities to volunteer, but we had our two boys in the backseat and couldn't just get out and help them while keeping our kids in the car. But we knew we needed to help. So after a little bit of thought, we decided what better way to help in this very moment than to bring these wonderful people and volunteers a BBQ! We rushed to Costco and picked up a couple of flats of pop, a box of granola bars, some rags and gloves for them and then went to DQ and ordered 40 single cheeseburgers! Dairy Queen was awesome! We told them we were going to bring them to the people who lived in the areas affected by the floods and they only charged us $2 per hamburger instead of $4.50! It was awesome!
We told Carter that tonight, we were going to make sad people happy! He was so excited to help! So while both boys sat in their carseats, Brian and I drove down all the streets and stopped everytime we saw people covered in mud or working at their house doing their best to put a little bit of normal back into their lives.
As we were stopped, a couple of police officers came up to us and asked us if we lived in the area, we explained that we didn't but that we lived far south and wanted to come here tonight to make some people happy. They were so nice, and friendly, Carter also was excited to see them.
They told us that it was horrific what happened and how much they appreciated us coming to help in anyway possible. That is who we are.. we are Calgarian! The streets were a mess, and what once was a super colourful city, just looked .. blah!
We continued on our way, but not before the wonderful cops gave Carter a badge for helping to "Make people Happy".. he was so proud!
And before we headed back, Brian made sure to drive by that sweet lady's house.. the one I saw sitting so helplessly on her front step watching her entire home being uprooted. I was thankful they were still there. We pulled over and I wanted to jump out of the Car and give her a big hug .. but I didn't. I composed myself enough to ask them if they were hungry. She looked at us and said "We just ate some sandwiches so we are good, but thank you so much!" With a HUGE smile on her face. Everything was worth it. I just wanted to see her smile and I did. That made my entire night a success.
Have you ever read Robert Munch Book "Have you filled a bucket today?" Its about how everyone in the whole wide world has an invisible bucket.. we all carry it around everyday but you cant see it. When someones bucket is full, they feel happy. When someones bucket is empty, they feel sad or lonely. You can fill someone else's buckets by doing or saying nice things to them and you can dip into someones bucket by doing to saying mean things to them. You can fill your own bucket when you fill someone else's. Today, we filled someones bucket. And it made us feel so wonderful to be able to help even in the simplest ways. I am excited to be teaching my boys how to make someone Happy. And I am excited to be a Calgarian.
