Weary, but hanging on to that famous Florida strength and sparkle

There’s no denying it — we Floridians are a resilient bunch. We have to be; we have no choice.

But the last couple of years have definitely tested our fortitude. First, Ian, then Tropical Storm Debby, then Hurricane Helene—and two weeks after, Hurricane Milton barreled in.

As I pen this missive on our friend’s farm in Georgia, where we evacuated three days before Milton reached Florida, I try to remember how many tropical depressions, tropical storms and hurricanes that I’ve been through in the past 50 years of living in Southwest Florida. They’re all sort of a blur.

I don’t remember the name of the first hurricane that we evacuated for, but we were living on Fort Myers Beach, and my mother, my pet cocker spaniel, Buffy, and I drove to a distant relative’s house in Cape Coral. The lady’s house where we stayed had lots of expensive things. I was only 11 and not allowed to touch anything. I remember she made me wash my hands a lot and sit very still.

I wanted to be home so badly, but I was terrified that all of Fort Myers beach would be covered by the Gulf of Mexico. Again, I don’t remember the name of the bullet, but I know that we dodged it – and my mother promised me that we would never evacuate again. We didn’t. My mom had a strong, sturdy home built for us on tall concrete stilts. During every storm, I felt perfectly safe at mom’s.

But, as I got older, I also got braver. When I was in my late teenage years and in my 20s, still living on the beach, sometimes I would foolishly go out to the Gulf and try to yell at the oncoming storms so they’d stay away other times, I would get in the water and body surf.

But, now that I’m older and a homeowner who lives a stone’s throw from the Caloosahatchee — I don’t mess around with storms anymore — especially after Ian. This time, we packed up our RV with our two kitties and some food, then got on the road headed north on Sunday.

We watched Milton from afar. We were able to watch NBC-2 news live on YouTube and we checked on our friends and neighbors via social media and text. As ideal and autumn-like as the safety of the farm is, we really haven’t been able to concentrate on anything except for our loved ones.

We were fortunate. One of our wonderful neighbors sent us photos of our home. A 30-foot royal palm tree fell down in our yard, but thankfully, it didn’t fall on our house. At the time of this writing, we don’t have power, but other than that, I think everything’s OK.

But I believe I echo the thoughts of many when I say, I’m not sure how much longer I can do this. Life is short — and these frequent hurricanes take their toll in many ways, but especially mentally. They wear you down, no matter how resilient you think you are.

Pre-storm sparkle

The night before we left Fort Myers, I was sparkling at the annual Arts for ACT Gala & Auction downtown at Caloosa Sound Convention Center. It was a beautiful black and white ball for a wonderful cause — to help Abuse, Counseling, and Treatment, Inc. At that point, we all knew the storm was coming – we just weren’t sure precisely where or exactly when. So, there was a heaviness in the air that all 400 guests did their best to ignore. We laughed, raised glasses, ate a wonderful meal, bid on auction items, and knew we would wake up the next day to start battening down hatches or pick up stakes and leave for the north or the east. It’s hard to relax and have a good time at a fabulous soirée when you’re worried for your home, your life, your sanity – – but as I said, we Floridians are resilient – and we did our best. ¦

Stephanie Davis is a recovering girl-about-town formerly known as the Downtown Diva. A nearly native Southwest Floridian, when she’s not photographing events for Florida Weekly, she’s perfectly content to stay at home binging Netflix with her husband and two cats, Tennessee and Lilibet.