In late August of 2017, Hurricane Harvey devastated the Houston area, Beaumont, and SW Louisiana. About 1000 displaced persons from the Vidor and Orange area, just east of Beaumont and north of Port Arthur, TX were relocated to the mega shelter at LSUA, just south of Alexandria. Most had several feet of water in their homes, had been evacuated, and were housed at the shelter for about a week.
Concurrently, I had started a batch of nearly 100 crosses made from heart pine. I'm very particular in finishing crosses. After assembling and sanding the faces, I carve the corners and hand sand the edges. Then I finish with stain and a couple of coats of polyurethane. In this case, I had 100 crosses that had not been finished. I knew that it would take one or two weeks to finish them. Most of the people would have been moved to more permanent housing by then.
Something (I know what) moved me to decide to take the unfinished yet beautiful crosses down to the mega shelter and give them away. So on Saturday afternoon, September 12, 2017, I took them and personally gave these plain crosses, simple gifts, to nearly 100 dear people. The responses were so moving - tears, hugs, thank yous, blessings, and other things. It was the best way I could have spent a hot, sunny, afternoon. It is why I make these crosses. I was so moved on the giving end, and I could go home to a nice, dry home. One can only imagine being on the receiving end, perhaps with no place to go.
I did save one Harvey cross to help me remember the special experience and the special people.
