Tomorrow, Jenn M. turns 30.  Happy, Happy Birthday, Jenn!   Today, Jenn got bad news.   Last night in Wilmington, NC, we got about 6-7 inches of rain in as many hours.  Our storm drains are not equipped to handle that, especially not with the rapid development here in New Hanover County.  There are areas that frequently flood, though it is usually just a few closed streets and lots of warnings on the news not to drive into standing water.

While the rain poured down, a stretch of road where Jenn M. and Claire share an apartment flooded.  In this area near the college-UNCW, hundreds of apartments flooded, for the first time, well, ever.  Within 12 hours, the buildings were condemned and the residents ordered out within 24 hours.  Can you imagine worse news than having six inches of water in your apartment and the need to move out within a few hours?  On the eve of your birthday?  Your 30th birthday?   After you had just moved three months prior? There are a few things that would be worse, but this was bad.

If you ask anyone working at Queensboro what their absolute favorite thing about working here is, nine times out of ten you’ll get the same answer:  the people.  I’ve never worked with such interesting, warm, caring, intelligent, motivated people.  We have MBAs and forensic anthropologists.  We have fiction writers and fine artists.  In our ranks there are school teachers, horticulturists, and fashion merchandisers.  We bring a multitude of backgrounds to work every day, to solve problems and help our customers.  We also help each other.  We always help each other.

As soon as they learned they needed to move, they told their co-workers, and we immediately began making plans to help.  I am not in the office Tuesdays, so I headed over to haphazardly help load our cars.  Back at Queensboro, the troops rallied to organize labor, trucks, and boxes that would have otherwise been immediately recycled.  Jennifer G. and Baby Ella brought pizza over.  (For which I was particularly grateful!)  Steph and her husband brought an enormous truck and moved much of the furniture.  Melisa and Robert were the “IT department” and disassembled, moved and re-assembled the electronics.  Jenni and Christian brought their SUV and moved the turtle, among other things.  Heather C and her sweetie worked with Jen B. to move more furniture and the contents of the fridge.  (Which, by the way, was chock-full of treats for Jenn M’s upcoming birthday party.)  Heather L, her new hubby and Cassie came by, unpacked the kitchen and brought much-needed bottled water for us.  Our new CSR (I don’t even know his name) Josh (thanks Steph!) helped move all of the heavy stuff.  It was, in a word, awesome.  In less than five hours, we had Jenn M and Claire out of the old place, into and unpacked in the new place, and nobody had a heart attack in the process.  Many hands make light work.

Our personalities definitely showed through, and that was pretty funny to watch.  My packing and moving method goes something like this:  Open the trunk of the car and throw everything in.  Boxes, who needs boxes?  Luckily, Jen B. is way more methodical.  Once we got everything in, she organized down to the last detail.  Books sorted by size and color, desk neatly re-assembled.   Heather C., the fashionista, matched Claire’s MANY pairs of shoes, while Nicki logically arranged the kitchen.  They guys let the girls tell them what to do (smart guys), and put their burly muscles to work.

We are all very different people, and we have different strengths and personalities.  Today, and this isn’t the first time, we all came together, putting all of our energy, strengths and resources together to get the job done, fast.  When we say we’re like a big family, it is because we are a big family.  We argue, we make up, we help each other, we hold each other up, we disagree, we solve problems and we get through it, whatever “it” is.  Today started as a hectic mess and ended with lots of very sweaty (and gross!) hugs, tears and thanks.  Out of a flooded mess, a new home was put together.  It does, by the way, have a really nice screened-in porch.  I might just make it my vacation location.  Jenn M and Claire-ice down some beer, I’ll be dropping by for a visit. . .