Teena's Toast

A couple of weeks ago, Matthew met a friend of mine from a few years back. Teena was my right-hand woman when I was kitchen manager for the Red Cross response in Gulf Shores, Alabama following Hurricane Ivan back in 2005. She's been with Red Cross forever and could have run the kitchen herself - as I found out later, she had been sent there to do just that! - but instead she let me flounder around like a crazy person as I tried to learn the ropes. In truth, she was the one keeping me together as I dealt with the stress of seeing my home torn apart.

My parents' home just a few miles from our kitchen was gutted by the storm and they, like thousands of others during that time, were living in hotels and fighting for what little information was available about what their recovery would look like. So, every night after the kitchen shut down, I would drive back to my parents' hotel room, listen to the news of the day, and pass out. Much of the work that Teena did was finding hotel rooms for staff who were sleeping in places like the local jailhouse, where lights out really meant lights out and they had to call the guard if they needed to go to the bathroom!

I have never seen more dedication and hard work out of a group of people as I did at that little kitchen in Gulf Shores. A staff of about 30 Red Cross volunteers (not counting the tireless effort of the Southern Baptists who actually cooked the meals that we delivered) served hundreds of meals a day to people all over the southern part of Baldwin County, Alabama. They drove and drove and drove, finding little pockets of people in small communities that I had never even heard of, though I grew up in the area. It was a humbling experience to be a part of it all, and I'm honored that Teena thought enough to look me up during her visit here to Hawaii.

*Editor's note: I met my friends Tara and Gabe at this same kitchen when they came down from Missouri to help out. Gabe was a master problem-solver and Tara kept everyone's spirits high. Since they moved from Hawaii to Las Vegas last year, we didn't get to have a kitchen-reunion, but suffice it to say that it would have been a blast!

Now, I don't want you getting the impression that Teena is all sweetness and light. Teena is tough. And funny. And knows how to keep people in line - including myself. But she's also gracious and generous - and doesn't make you feel badly when you're stuck outside the coffee shop with a sleeping baby and no cash and she has to buy your coffee. She even brings you samples from the counter to munch on even though you've already had breakfast. We had coffee and chatted and she played with Matthew like only a grandmother could. I only wish that she could have stayed longer so that I could have bought her a drink in thanks. Since I didn't get the chance to, I'll just toast her now: Here's to Teena! She's gettin' 'er done!