South Florida Evacuation As Irma Bears Down

Reality sucks.

I literally deplaned from an idyllic vacation in Iceland and I called my mother, Queen E., to let her know I was back in her time zone.

Her opening gambit was, “Thank God you are home. I have a problem. Get me a hotel room so that I can survive Irma…by the way, I don’t like the name, Irma. It reminds me of a girl in school that I didn’t like. Can they change it to something nicer?!”

Before I entered my Carmel town car, I was on the phone with south Florida shelters, hotels and convalescent homes.

Everything within 20 miles was sold-out.

My mom refused to board a plane for New York.

I finally found a hotel in downtown Delray Beach that had a generator and handicap enabled room.

Her aide loaded up on food and water.

Luckily, I had previously stocked her home with flashlights.

I tried to overnight a bunch more for my mom and her neighbors, but Amazon Prime was sold-out and delivery was scheduled for 2 weeks from now.

My husband ran to Lowe’s and bought several, but FedEx could not guarantee delivery before the weekend and they wanted $200 for that non-service.

I am evacuatting Queen E. and her aide moving them into the hotel today just in case.

My mom asked about check in time at the hotel.

I told her anytime after 3pm.

She was delighted because she had a hairdresser appointment at 1pm.

Queen E.’s philosophy is to confront life’s challenges with a lovely outfit, accompanied by a good hair day.

Hopefully, south Florida will be bypassed and my mom along with so many other Floridians will be safe.

Life’s rich pageant of trials and tribulations.