Goodbye 2024 ~ An Asheville Christmas

    The end of 2024 is here. It was a year like many others, but also so different in many ways. It was a year we will never forget. Like every year, there were wonderful moments and very hard moments. We planned, grew, failed and succeeded. However, with Hurricane Helene, which caused a 1000 year flood, this year was different from any other year in my life. The impact that this flood has left on all of us, even those of us who still have our homes and jobs, is all encompassing.  Driving past all of this destruction day in and day out, there is just a feeling of exhaustion. Even deciding our route (especially at night with no street lights and sink holes that keep popping up) is exhausting. Doing all of the doings of life in the middle of a natural disaster is exhausting. People keep asking if we are all back to normal. No, Asheville and WNC are not back to normal and won't be for a long, long time. However, we keep striving to make a good and happy life. We are resilient and strong.

    Our personal lives have been filled with sadness this year, too. Our estranged daughter Katie had a very, very hard year, which I am not going to speak about on an open blog. But sadly, she has proven to the public what we already knew about her. While we feel somewhat validated by those who didn't believe and denied us/her help and said so many harsh things to us over the years, we also are heartbroken for her and those she impacts. 2024 was a very challenging year!

    The holidays were subdued in Western North Carolina.  Most holiday events were canceled or altered in some way. There was no Grove Park Inn Gingerbread competition or Biltmore Dicken's Village (that entire shopping district was destroyed and some of it has been bulldozed). People put out fewer or no lights on their homes. There were a few activities, but for the most part we were inclined to stay home and enjoy our own tree and family. Those of us whose homes were intact and jobs were secure spent our time and money trying to improve the lives of those who lost everything. There is so much desperate need in Western North Carolina. There is such a long road to recovery. It will be years until we find our new normal.

    We were blessed to spend a lovely 24 hours over Thanksgiving with two of our favorite people in the world, Dear Husband's sister and brother in law. They pampered us, fed us, listened to our story, let us decompress and just gave us a break from the dreariness of Asheville right now. 

Alex and Lew

    We also had a lovely visit with my stepmother, Sue, and her partner, Tom. They visited for a few days and then moved down to a hotel in Greenville with us for Nutcracker weekend. We had some great meals at home and in restaurants. We enjoyed exploring downtown Greenville during the Christmas season. The Nutcracker was stunning. This was the biggest audience (2,200) Rebekah has ever danced for and she totally enjoyed herself.  All the Nutcracker photos were taken by a professional.

    We did two Christmas events in Asheville. We attended the Arboretum light show. All of the beautiful lights gave us hope for recovery and hope for the future of Asheville. 

    Rebekah and I also used our annual passes to visit the Biltmore Estate at Christmas. We absolutely loved all of the beautiful trees and garlands. The house was unharmed, but the land was dramatically damaged. The river ravaged the fields, and the woods are littered with down trees. Scientists have said that Helene killed or seriously damaged 40 percent of the trees in our county alone! Driving through the forests of Biltmore, I can believe it! 

    We had a peaceful Christmas morning. I woke up before everyone else and laid on the sofa for about two hours, admiring the tree and reading a Christmas book, before hubby and the kids showed up. 

Christmas Morning

    

    The below photos are of Asheville the last week of December. Improvements are being made all of the time. Debris is getting picked up and lost buildings are being bulldozed. They are starting to pull trucks and cars out of the rivers. There is just so much to clean up that it blows the mind. 

Out of the rubble...hope

The pictures below are one of the main streets we take to get across town. It used to be filled with offices, antique shops, breweries, and warehouses.

A van

Looks like the owner of this car was trying to evacuate. I hope they made it. 

After 14 weeks, the sides of the roads are still littered with smashed cars,
but they have already towed away hundreds of cars and trucks.

A train that the flood waters picked up and deposited on top of this brewery.
All that is left is the bathrooms.

Beds, children's toys and shoes are some of the hardest things to see. 

    The new year is already looking to be busy. The most exciting change is that Elijah is starting college in a few days. He is taking classes in Computer Integrated Machining. We hope he likes it and finds a career that will fulfill him. We are so proud of him for putting one foot in front of another and trying new things. 

    Happy New Year to you all. 

Blessings, Dawn