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What Does It Feel Like to Be Glad to Be Alive?

Surviving Hurricane Ian

Amy Sterling Casil
5 min readOct 3, 2022

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“My daddy was my guardian angel,” said my friend who rode out Hurricane Ian in a manufactured home. She and her small dog are glad to be alive.

Our guardian angels were also looking out for us. We are not only alive, safe, and well, our home survived Hurricane Ian. Our lamppost is down, but our house is not.

Yesterday when we went back to secure our home and survey the damage, I arrived first.

I had our small dog Gambit, and when I opened the front door, I was stunned by what I saw.

I had been expecting our home to be without a roof, filled with flood water.

Instead, it was exactly the same as we had left it.

Gambit immediately ran to his bed and began playing with one of his toys.

I sat on the floor, put my head in my hands, and wept.

The entire time we have lived in the house, I have felt and sometimes out of the corner of my eye, seen the native spirits that pass through. They were there.

How is it possible our home survived being in the eyewall of one of the most powerful hurricanes in history for over eight hours?

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Amy Sterling Casil
Amy Sterling Casil

Written by Amy Sterling Casil

Over 500 million views and 5 million published words, top writer in health and social media. Author of 50 books, former exec, Nebula nominee.

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