Slowly, slowly, Fairfield Harbour residents are beginning to move back into their homes that have been remediated or remodeled following Hurricane Florence’s mighty assault on our area last September. However, there are still many who continue to be displaced and have no idea when they might join the group of returnees. Such is the case with Gail Goodwin, a Mystic Court resident who lost her home and has now been living with her friend, Diana Jones, for the past 11 months. The pair, both widows in their mid-seventies, seem to have created a pleasant living arrangement that works for them and Diana’s 15-year-old cat, Marigold. Although they have been friends since they both moved to Fairfield Harbour more than 15 years ago, they now share a special bond that was enhanced by the epic journey that marked the beginning of their latest adventure together.

With the approach of Florence and the mandatory evacuation, Diana, Gail, and Diana’s neighbor and friend, 103-year-old Joan Smith, knew they needed to leave New Bern and get away from the storm. They decided against heading north in an attempt to avoid traffic, and instead headed south to Tampa where Diana has family. The three of them jammed into Diana’s car with as many personal belongings and important papers as they could pack in. Gail ended up sharing the back seat with Marigold in her cat carrier, along with the litter box and cat food, among other things. Not too excited about her special time with the ladies, Marigold took up howling and didn’t let up for 3 to 4 hours at a time making the 11-hour trip seem even longer. Although Gail was greatly saddened when it happened, her own 20-year-old cat had died just two weeks before the infamous trip, at least alleviating the additional ordeal of having to accommodate two cats in the car, a motel, and later in a shared home.

The trio ended up renting a “cheap hotel,” in their words, located between an Outback Steakhouse and a Cracker Barrel, so at least they didn’t have a problem getting food. Their room was on the ground floor with a front door and a back door that went out to the pool. Since Joan participates in water aerobics classes in the Harbour, she was excited to use the pool and asked the others to take her to buy a bathing suit and noodle. My guess is that she left her black ball cap with flames on the side, the one she always wears to the rec center pool, back at home. Marigold sat in the window and looked out, enjoying the passersby who were continually tapping on the window to greet her. When I praised Joan for continuing her water aerobics in Florida at the age of 103, she gave me an odd look and then piped in, “Well, I was only 102 at the time!” Her birthday is in December.

The two doors of their room needed to be carefully watched so Marigold wouldn’t make an escape. The worst was in the mornings in anticipation of the cleaning lady. Diana tried to get the cat in her carrier before her arrival, but Marigold got smart and started hiding under the bed. For anyone who knows cats, you probably know this routine. The ladies tried shaking the cat treats to lure her out, but Marigold always seemed to know what they were trying to do and did her best to resist that pesky cat carrier. Getting her out from under the bed usually involved lying on the floor and trying to swish her from one side to the other until someone could finally grab her. This isn’t as easy as it might sound, especially for the Three Musketeers.

While in Florida, Joan and Gail enjoyed meeting Diana’s 12- and 14-year-old grandson and granddaughter, and Joan especially enjoyed the “big sky,” claiming she couldn’t get over how different the feeling of the sky was in Tampa. They also all complained about the unbelievable traffic that made New Bern look great.

The tribulations of their evacuation turned out to be minor compared to their return home. They faced several detours, including getting off I95 in South Carolina and having to go to Raleigh with all the trucks, making it a long and gruesome 13-hour trip. Exhausted upon arrival to Fairfield Harbour, they dropped Gail off at her home, only to find her refrigerator and freezer overturned, walls bulging, and furniture strewn throughout the house, as a result of the five feet of water that had come in. The house was destroyed. Devastated, Gail went home with Diana to stay, and she’s been there ever since as her house is still undergoing the process of being raised and remodeled. She has no idea how much longer it will take, although she now has steps and floors. Joan and Diana fared a little better as the water had just come up to their doorsteps. Although there was wind and water damage throughout their homes, they were both still livable. They considered themselves very lucky. Neither has had all of her repairs completed yet, as Diana says they are letting other people get their repairs done first. We all know how hard it still is to get construction workers. Neither Diana nor Joan had any power for over a month after the storm. Gail’s son came from Erie, PA, for a couple of weeks to help them and he brought along a generator, so they got by with that for about three weeks.

Unfortunately, the long drive had aggravated Diana’s health issues and a couple of days after arriving home she developed blood clots in her lungs and ended up being hospitalized for eight days as a result of pulmonary embolism. Gail’s car was flooded out but she was able to use Diana’s until she got a new one. Their mailboxes were gone, necessitating drives into town to pick their mail up. It was frustrating that they were not allowed to pick up the mail for each other, as per Post Office rules. Diana’s children were happy that Gail was living in her house to take care of Marigold and other things while Diana was so seriously ill, and Gail’s children were happy that Diana had generously opened her home to their mom so she at least had somewhere to live. Joan is thankful to have such a wonderful neighbor as Diana, who become a close friend and companion after they both moved in, two doors away from each other, in 2003 when Joan was just a spry 87 years old. Joan claims, “God gave her to me.”

The ladies all have a symbiotic relationship of learning from each other as well. Joan is still a very sharp bridge player and got Diana back into playing bridge, encouraging her to learn on the internet and in bridge classes in Fairfield Harbour. Joan keeps herself very busy; but, when they left to evacuate, she didn’t take along any of the handiwork that she normally does and was frustrated not to have anything to do with her hands like making mug rugs and pencil holders for the Hospital Auxiliary. Diana and Gail tried to teach Joan how to read on their Kindle and I-pad but every time she got going, she’d hit something wrong and say, “Where’d it go?” That didn’t go so well, but the memory certainly generated a lot of giggles from all three of them. Gail still had a flip phone when they left for the trip, but inspired by Diana and Joan, she finally updated that.

All three ladies appreciated the help of the American Red Cross that arranged for hot meals and ice for residents, and even came into their court handing out sandwiches on occasion. Diana’s cleaning lady took their laundry to her own home to wash for them. In reminiscing about the entire situation, they all agreed that they were just glad they had made it to Tampa and back and the car didn’t give in. It seems to me that they are all grateful that they have each other, making it possible to weather a storm that none of them could have endured alone. Just as the original Three Musketeers faced injustices and abuses in their travails, sticking together to play out their motto, “All for one and one for all,” our own Three Musketeers have helped each other to achieve a semblance of normalcy during the past year of devastation.