Evacuating for a hurricane is never easy. You have to storm proof your house and pack enough dry shampoo and clean underwear for the unknown ahead.
It also means you have to think about those absolutely irreplaceable things. So we asked you: What were the things that you just couldn’t leave behind?
Out of dozens of responses, we picked a handful of our faves that made us laugh and gave us all the feels.
– Joseph Penalver: I just took the basic essentials but I took the time to pack my laptop and my backup hard drive with all of the family photos, my daughter packed her Little Mermaid suitcase full of her toys because she didn’t want “the hurricane to blow her toys away.”
– Jenelle Chuisa: My SEVEN (7) animals, Dora 🐱, Karla 🐱, Diego 🐱, Huni 🐱, Hagler 🐶, Camacho 🐶, and RuPawl 🐶. It wasn’t easy but we all escaped to Central Florida and had power and cable the entire time.
– Cristina Mas: “Family jewelry were the most important things I took with me. My grandmother gave my mother a beautiful ring on her quince años, which my mother gave me on my quince. I plan to give it to my daughter. I also took the gold cross my mother wore on her wedding day and another ring my great aunt gave me. I also took my boxing gloves, but that was more just to punch something.”
– Joey Flechas: “I grabbed my grandfather’s ring, which he gave me the day I graduated from college, externals [hard drives], the few photo albums I had, and my fridge photos/mementos/postcards.”
– Kyriaki Tsaganis: “The onesie I came home from the hospital in.”
– Mark Kingdon: “A paperweight from my mother’s collection and some basic clothes…”
– Mary Lopez Jones: “My grand daughter’s favorite toys in a box, important papers, last box of photos that have not been scanned, important papers, dog food and toys, human food, favorite painting, and work computer! Standing there trying to decide what’s really important put a whole lot into perspective and made the decision easy.”
– Brooke Vinnedge: “Our family portrait I had commissioned for my boyfriend this past Christmas.”
– Carlos Ariza: “A dog, two cats and two kids. Everything else can be replaced. :)”
– @agirlinher30s: “Besides the essentials…Wedding pictures, university diploma, Cuban coffee, and – my writing journal.”
– @speclansauntie9: “My photobooks of my recent travels. Idk why but I love to look back on them bc they provide comfort in uncertain times.”
– @joshceb: “My comic books. Had to keep them safe.”
– Shared by @albanianhobbit
@melissapino_: “Packing to leave somewhere without knowing when or if you’ll come back is almost paralyzing. I walked around my house aimlessly, knowing I had to get my things in order, not knowing where to begin. It seems silly when the first thing I put in my backpack was a copy of The Sorcerer’s Stone. My mom, not even knowing who Harry Potter was or what the series would become, bought me this book in 2001. She bought it, not because it was Harry Potter, but because it was a book and she knew that I, like her, loved to read. I can find The Sorcerer’s Stone in any book store, but this was the first thing I packed because it was more than just a book – it carried the teachings of my mom. “Melissa, Time spent with a book is time well spent. You must always read.”
– Shared by @ella_arie.