10/27/2024
I hope this message finds everyone well. I know this event effected so many of you on different levels and all of you have been on my mind throughout this. If I have not reached out to you, please respond to this email and let me know how you are.
First of all, I am astounded. Ya’ll are incredible! From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU to each and everyone of you who have supported me through the Go Fund Me page and otherwise. I truly am at a loss for words with the response. I am humbled and so very deeply touched by your generosity, concern and care. I typically am the one who spearheads efforts to raise funds for hurricane victims knowing one day “it could be us” but not really thinking that it would actually happen. Oh life... There is still a sense of shock surrounding the entire thing which has left me still a bit numb. Out of necessity though, one tends to just jump into action mode and push on. But let me tell you something, Hurricane Fatigue is a real thing as stated by meteorologist Craig Setzer,
"After a significant hurricane event, many people who are no longer running on adrenaline will crash- both physical and emotionally. And if often does not happen right away but sometimes weeks or months afterwards. You are not alone feeling this way, and it is very normal. “
This is going to be a long road and for some, longer than others. I was at the office earlier this week clearing the last remnants of my flood soaked contents that got left behind due to the chaos of Milton. I find that every time I have to go back to the destruction, it is like opening the wound under salty water all over again. The pain is real and it stings. As for a timeline, unfortunately, the damage to my part of the office is more extensive than to my neighboring businesses requiring new electrical. This will delay any potential reopening.
For all of my clients who have reached out wondering when I’ll be back, I do have some good news. In the next few weeks, I will start to offer mobile massage on an interim basis with limited availability. That being said, please understand, the act of giving massage is incredibly demanding both physically and emotionally on a therapist. It is the hardest job I have ever done and I used to be a personal trainer who taught numerous spin classes a day plus trained and ran to work! As the receiver of massage, you would never know this. That’s the beauty of it! Mobile massage is even more difficult for the therapist as it requires us to haul the heavy awkward table around and now likely up to a second story then set up and tear down after every client. The extra time and physical requirements effects the number of clients seen in a day or week. I say this to give you some perspective going forward on why my availability may be limited or why you may or may not see pricing changes. I’ll have to work the numbers there.
As for my house on the island, which was also destroyed, it will not be fixed so the hunt begins to find a new reasonably priced place to live in this area. Any leads would be appreciated. On a good note, I am happy to say that I finally laid out the last of the flood soaked photos I had; Aly’s baby photos, most of them survived with smudgy reminders of Helene around the edges. My baby book on the other hand, was not salvageable. You’ll have to take my word for it, I was a cute baby.
If you are not here on the island and living through what we have lived through then it is hard to understand exactly what we're dealing with. I lost my entire life’s work both personal and business in one giant swish and so did so many others who called the island home. The loss of a house or furniture is minimal although carries a large financial strain, but it is the loss of the little things that, to me, are most impactful, like family photos and videos, all of my research books (massage and history), documents, notes, veteran files and photos.. It equals decades and decades and decades of work lost. It’s a gut punch and a hard pill to swallow even for the most positive among us. So much so that I have found it hard to sit down and write about it. Additiaonlly, we deal with the administrative aftermath; FEMA, disaster unemployment, insurance company of which I only had car not contents, SBA.. cancelling bills/service... and the ongoing clean up, sorting through your stuff, home and office, that you haphazardly threw into bins just to get it out of the mold infested smelly house…. All the while still trying to be some kind of mother to your daughter, now a senior in college, who also lost the place she grew up in. It's just a lot. Although my daughter, she's a rock and she has taught me lessons throughout this, as she always does. As I closed the door and we walked away from our home for the last 9 years, I asked her if she wanted to say goodbye. She replied,
“No. I want to remember it like it was. Besides, home is not a place. Home is where you make it.”
How did I grow such an incredible human?
Thank you again for your patience, understanding and support! Although this is such an enormous loss, there is part of me that also feels like the luckiest girl on earth. Can't wait to see you all soon!
For more details, check out our FB page or the GoFundMe page. And for those of you who would still like to make a donation just click here GoFundMe.
Hi Friends, My name is Natalie McNatt and I live in Tampa Fl… Natalie Scarcelli McNatt braucht deine Unterstützung für Restore hope for Karen and Aly after hurricane devastation.
