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The Story of a Hurricane

In the midst of discovering the new title of the book, I also discovered that I should share my story of depression.  My first reaction was concern.  I was deeply involved with a group of people at the time and there were things that occurred that if I share them could potentially drag up a lot of anger and frustration and judgement, on my part and the part of those that I was with at the time.  That is not something that I want.  But then as I dreamed one night, I found how to share with out pointing fingers. 
You see, I am a survivor of Hurricane Hugo.  Most Carolinians can say that, because the hurricane made landfall at night and there was a mass exodus from the coast lands.  Because of those two things all but 21 people survived that night.  But I think what tends to go unnoticed, because of the survival is the voracity of the storm.  Hurricane Katrina which caused major destruction and death was a category 3 hurricane.  Hurricane Hugo was category 4.  Charleston, SC took a direct hit.  I grew up about 30 minutes north of Charleston, so we were not spared the brunt of that force.  Information from NOAA  says that the winds were a sustained 104mph, compared to Katrina's 87mph.  It was not a deadly storm, but it was feirce.  Now, how does that translate to my story of depression?
Just like Hurricane Hugo, it is important that you understand that this was a specific time and place, this storm is not still occuring, the conditions that I experienced are no longer there.  The circumstances that were in my life would not have the same outcome today.  And most importantly, that period in my life is something that I survived.  What I can share is my memories and recollections from that time and place in my life.  I won't be able to tell you everyone else's story, just my own.  And because it is my story, the comments will be turned off.  Through my experience I have found that it is easy to misunderstand people when we are not face to face.  Feel free to email me with your thoughts and questions, but we won't be having a public discussion about my story at this time.
So with all that, I look forward to sharing with you my struggle with walking the blue ridge.

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