Stacey-Ann's Blog

Hurricane Irene may not have packed the punch that we all expected but she did manage to punch my power away about midnight on Saturday.

I had hoped that by the time we woke up Sunday power would be back but that was not the case. 

In the end, we finally got back power on Monday afternoon - parts of my neighborhood are still without power and they are estimating that it may not return until Thursday (yikes!).  

I spent most of the day today cleaning out the freezer and throwing away disgraceful amounts of food.

This brief stint without power brought back unpleasant memories (flashbacks actually) of a time when I lived without power for 3.5 months.

On September 12, 1988 Hurricane Gilbert took dead aim at my hometown of Kingston, Jamaica.  By the time the storm was over, Kingston and much of the rest of the island was devastated.  We had damage to our roof but it was intact but we had no telephone (the horror) or power.

The first few days we ate really well as my mom cooked all the great things that had been in the freezer.  After that, we ate only canned foods.  Canned corned beef is a staple Jamaican food that I have not eaten in years because I got my fill during those long months.

We returned to school and had to come home to do our homework quickly or risk having to do it via candle-light.

There were good memories, we played lots of games and had great conversations as a family but it was a very difficult time.

Power was finally restored on Christmas Eve that year.

These hours without power gave me new respect for what my mom must have been going through because I had to cope with no power, figure out what to feed everyone, and deal with my whiny children who were not impressed with what was happening.

The moral of the story:  I need a generator!