Overwhelmed is a word I have used more in the past three months than ever before.

Three months ago, Townsville, a regional city in Australia’s tropical north, experienced a ‘one in one hundred year’ weather event.  There were several factors which coincided to cause devastation across the city – heavy, relentless monsoon rains, king tides and water released from a dam that couldn’t contain all the rapidly rising water.  Whole suburbs were flooded or storm affected. Mine was one of them. We’d had other floods but my place was never previously flooded. It is an experience I hope is never repeated. I was overwhelmed by the enormity of it all.

I think I was even more overwhelmed when I learned that my colleagues at ‘the Studio’ decided to create a massive collaborative collection to help raise money towards my ‘rebuild’.  Out of the sheer goodness and kindness of their hearts they created the stunning The Sun Will Shine Again.

Many many of our wonderful customers purchased the kit or donated funds to support and help me.  The outpouring of kind words and generosity has been overwhelming, amazing and very humbling. I am grateful beyond words.

My home, which had to be ‘stripped’ and sanitized, is progressing nicely.  The walls are sheeted, the plastering is done, the tiles have been laid, architraves and cornices are finished and this week the painters have started.  Hopefully, the cabinetry will be installed in a few weeks and I will be able to move back in. The loss of personal effects is really sad, but my heart is filled with gratitude, for I have been wonderfully blessed by the love and kindness of a great many people – that is precious indeed!

How can I express the depth of my appreciation to all who have supported me through the ordeal of this ‘life event’?  Simply and sincerely from my very grateful heart – “THANK YOU SO MUCH!”

Love and hugs,

Esther
Zesty Designs

You can see Esther’s home Before in her pictures in my original blog post. She’s kept me updated and has graciously allowed me to share her progress pictures with all of you today. Looking through them I realized that every single room is being redone. Esther’s home has been stripped bare. Everything is new. Walls. Floors. Doors… memories.

As the rebuild draws to a close and Esther moves back in, it will be her home again. And yet. It will be new. Not just a new home she moved to, but a new home with new things. Most of her old things, her treasured keepsakes, memories, it’s all gone. It’s hard to imagine such a loss.

Esther has been a trooper. She has rolled with the punches, the struggles with the insurance company, the loss of her possessions, with an amazing grace and gratitude for her own, her friends, neighbors and families lives. She has an incredibly sunny disposition. Esther has looked at the bright side this entire time. I’m not sure I would have been that gracious.

I am rejoicing her home could be saved. I am relieved she will finally get to move back home in the months to come. I am still in shock at how water wreaked so much devastation. Like Esther I am incredibly grateful to our generous Designers The Sun Will Shine Again, and our compassionate members who helped her get back on her feet.

Thank you.