The long road back to Oakwood

photo by Melissa Missildine Oakwood’s Lucielle Smith As the years passed by, Lucielle would move into an assisted living facility. The Holland House was great. It was right on the beach and the buses ran right out front to take you anywhere you wanted. She shopped, visited friends and went to church. She was a strong, independent senior.

Lucielle was so happy living at Holland House. She felt safe there. Over the years, there had been 7 big storms roll through Galveston. With a lot of prayer, she made it through them all. This last one, September 13, 2008, was different. “This was the worst storm ever. I’ve never seen nothing like it before.” she tells. When people came by to tell them to evacuate, she knew she’d better do it this time. Lucielle told me, “There were some crazy enough to stay but, not me.” She packed a bag with some clothes in it and went to Houston with some friends. She was a little concerned about staying in Houston because it tends to “get water” as she puts it. She was right to be worried. Houston did get water...and a lot of it. The water came right up to the house she was staying in but, stayed out. She and her friends stayed up all night praying. They were beyond relieved when they heard Hurricane Ike had passed.

That relief didn’t last long, soon Lucielle would find out that she wouldn’t be allowed to go back to Holland House for nearly two weeks. She was so worried about her home; her belongings. When she was finally allowed back in, she found that her room, located on the first floor, had 7 inches of standing water in it. Everything she owned was ruined. All of her furniture, her bed, and her personal items were beyond saving. Only one precious item, oddly left inside a plastic grocery sack by mistake, survived. Her Bible. Lucielle found this to be a sign. She had forgotten she had put her Bible in the grocery bag only a couple of days before the storm. She had been carrying several items and just simply slipped the Bible in there as well to make it easier to get them off the bus and into her room. Lucielle knew God was telling her that she would be o.k. All she could do now was gather up her soggy clothing in plastic garbage sacks and call on her family to help. Her cousin came from Oakwood with his truck. He loaded up the still wet clothing and a refrigerator Lucielle hoped would someday work again. Although reluctant, he appeased her. After learning that Holland House had been condemned, her only choice was to go back to Oakwood to the little trailer house again. She left clutching her Bible close to her heart.

These days, Lucielle sits in her little trailer house on the old homestead, missing her friends and her life back in Galveston. That refrigerator she insisted on bringing with her, sits out on the porch. The sacks of mildewed clothing were never unpacked. They are scattered about the living room. She’s not sure what to do with any of it. She says she’s lonely these days. With no transportation, she never leaves the house unless her last remaining cousin in Oakwood picks her up for church. She even has to wait to go to the doctor until her cousin goes. She never learned to drive. She never needed to in the city. Now, she’s frustrated and feels trapped. Holland House has called to say she can fill out new paper work to move back in. She has hopes that she can get that done. She’s not sure how she’s going to get back Galveston but, prays that she can. She says she could live here the rest of her days if she has to but, the city girl in her just won’t rest. Lucielle is feeling the power of the city pulling her once again.