Overwhelmed and Grateful

"Who is Susie ______" I asked the Wifester, not accusingly, just questioning as I must with my terrible memory and all...
"I don't know, hunny." She said. "Maybe one of your blog readers?"
Oh, do I still have them?
Apparently I do. And Susie ______ is one of them, if not the one and only. I had received an email asking how the Wifester and I were doing through the flooding.
Now how about that?
After a little bit of back and forth with the emails Susie did disclose that she followed my blog and just wanted to check in on us. Wow. How friggin' neighborly is that? That's why I love Tennessee.
Then I start getting the messages from my old high school friend who is now in New Orleans.
"Do you need anything? Can we send anything? What can I DO???"
After assuring her we are OK here, she went on to say that after Katrina, and all the help and support she saw coming her way, she just could not stand to sit by and do nothing.
My heart swells with the outpouring of love, compassion and support coming from our friends and family, even if the national news media isn't showing the depth of our issue, here. Word of mouth travels fast in the world of Twitter and Facebook...and word has gotten around.
The Wifester and I are some of the few lucky ones. We live on higher ground and have had no damage, thankfully.
Friends have not fared so well. My friend who hooked me up with the art show that I recently had my art in...he and his wife's house is covered in water, up to the second floor. Second floor, folks!
A high school classmate has been missing since Saturday...
It's a mess here. A big mess. I know this is the Volunteer State. I grew up hearing the stories of how Tennesseans volunteer to help more than any other state, and now it is time for us to turn that spirit of giving on ourselves and help our neighbors.
How can you helps us? Spread the word. The national news is doing a very poor job of showing the severity of the situation here. Hands on Nashville sums it up nicely:

In case folks don't grasp the severity of what's going on. Temporary shelters are at capacity, missing people are unaccounted for, many homes are under water, we're in a water conservation emergency, much of Nashville's economic base is threatened by flood damage, etc, etc.

In other words, we're going to need help.

Go to www.hon.org (Hands On Nashville) to become a volunteer or to make a donation go to http://www.cfmt.org/floodrelief/ and give at The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee to ensure that your money goes directly to flood relief efforts. Despite what we've been told about Text to REDCROSS, that money just goes to the Red Cross, who then can use it anywhere in the world that they feel it is most needed. Which ordinarily is fine, but right now, when we need it, we need to make sure we are giving to the channels that will siphon the money to the proper, local agencies.