I have lived in South Florida for 30 years.

I have experience with hurricanes large and small. Irma felt different.

There was more anxiety attached to this storm than any I’ve  experienced.

Maybe it was the length of time we spent waiting for the storm to arrive or social media or the TV coverage; it all seemed to add up to a whole lot of fear. I know people who fled to Tampa only to double back to South Florida when Irma’s track shifted west. And I know others who fled the state altogether.

We are fed tons of information when hurricanes approach and this one was scary and doled out a severe beating to those in its path. At last count, 55 people lost their lives in the storm.

Boca and Delray took a beating. We will recover. But for people in the Keys, the west coast and the islands, Irma’s path of destruction will leave indelible scars. And yet…

I do know this and it’s a cliche. But crisis and emergencies focus us as people.

We come together. We work collaboratively, we seek to help others and be helped ourselves — -as it should be.

If only it would last and this approach toward life could be a way of life.

Not the anxiety part, but the collaborative spirit that lives inside most of us. (Not the guy who flew through a four way stop this morning at Linton and Federal)

Wishing you all a speedy recovery….and may we all serve as shelters in the storm for each other.