October 19, 2025
Yesterday I walked into the weight room with Matt. Adriana was there. She was on the leg press machine and I went over to say hello. She said, “I am surprised that I am here.” I responded, “I am not surprised. You are strong. I knew you would continue.” She took a breath and paused to consider my words. Let them sink in for a moment. She said, I want to hold your hands for this, and reached towards me. I gave her my hands. When she continued I felt her words as much as I heard them. “Virginia, when I started coming to your classes last fall I could barely walk. Your classes are something unique and beautiful. They’ve changed my life. You’ve changed my life.” Adriana’s eyes began to sparkle, filling to the brim, that moment just before tears begin to fall. Gratitude pouring fourth. My eyes began to sparkle too, and my heart moved in my chest as we stood there together in that moment of shared happiness. “You’re gonna make me cry,” I said, and she smiled a soft smile. We both did.
I’ve cried a lot of tears though out the years that I’ve worked at the YMCA but this last year has been something incredible. When hurricane Milton destroyed our home it was incomprehensible. Shoes floating through the kitchen, a vehicle in the garage elevated on stilts to keep it above the water line. Where was normal? What had meaning in life? How was I ever gonna get through this?
I have had difficulty letting people get close to me and accepting help even though God wants us to be a part of a community. Everything that happens is for a reason and God used what could have been a tragedy to change my heart forever.
The day I walked into the house after the water receded I had no idea where to even begin. I stood there looking around, overwhelmed, devastated.
And then the miracle began.
Cars started arriving and parking in the street. Friends from the YMCA who heard about what happened and made the decision to come help. I was speechless as they looked around the house and then turned to me. What do we do, they asked. Joyce and others had called me their “Fearless leader,” and I felt ill-equipped for the title. I am full of fear! Perhaps we all are? In life it’s not about the absence of fear though, its about having the courage to do the things we need to do despite the fear.
“We have to tear out the wet drywall,” I said.
I had done a little research and knew how to slice the drywall and flip it up at the seams. I showed them the technique and the work began. Bags and bags of soaking wet drywall were pulled from the house and piled in the front. This is how it began. And this is how I learned to take one step at a time and rebuild things that are broken, how to hold onto family and community above all, how to surrender and do the work in front of us, but not alone.
Together.
