wfn.org | [ENS] Out of Deep Waters: Stranded couple finds sanctuary with

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

Episcopal News Service

Monday, September 26, 2005

Out of Deep Waters: Stranded couple finds sanctuary with strangers

By Carol Barnwell

ENS092605-02

[Episcopal News Service] In his sermon on Sunday, September 25, the Rev.
William Miller said, "God didn't send the storm. God seeks to work
amidst
the storm." He might have been talking about the Lesinas, who were
stranded
in the middle of the night, 40 miles north of Houston without food or
water
as Hurricane Rita bore down on the Gulf Coast.

"That's my angel right there," said Earl Lesina, pointing across the
breakfast table at the young mother who rescued him and his wife Shirley
from a parking lot in Waller, Texas sometime after midnight on September
23.

The Lesinas, both 73, had evacuated their flood-prone home in Deer Park,
on
the south side of Houston, with their dog, cat, a treasured quilt and
some
equipment in the back of their pickup truck. In 28 hours, they had
traveled
less than 60 miles, ran out of gas and food. Shirley was slumped over in
the
car, exhausted and dehydrated. They were about to let their dog go,
hoping
he could take care of himself, because they did not believe they would
make
it through the night.

"We were scared to death," said the former security guard. Earl said his
wife couldn't walk and "guys were casing" his truck and the generator he
had
loaded in back. "I looked at this field of weeds next to us and I knew
that's where someone would find us the next morning. I was terrified."

Comfortably situated at Camp Allen, the Diocese of Texas Camp and
Conference
Center, Kim Perry balanced her two-year-old daughter Emmy on her leg as
she
tearfully recounted finding the Lesinas. Although the stress of their
earlier situation had passed, their desperation remained a fresh memory
to
the elementary school librarian.

"We were watching the news and could see the 290 traffic from our
house,"
Kim said. "We took some drinks out to the people who were stranded.
There
were lots of people without air conditioning-sometimes 10 people in one
car!
Hundreds of cars had swarmed into the parking lot. All the restaurants
were
closed, there was no gasoline left."

Animals were overheated, she said. People were afraid they would be
stranded
on the road during the hurricane and there was no food or water
available.
"It didn't matter how much money you had. You were stuck!" Kim's husband
Billy added.

The First Baptist Church in Waller opened at 9 p.m. that night and Kim
helped there until midnight when she and Billy decided to offer their
guest
room to someone who really needed help. "It was stifling hot," Kim said.
She
smiled across the table at Shirley and, wiping tears from her cheeks,
said
simply, "They looked like they really needed help." Earl tears up as he
interrupted, "God sent her to us!" Shirley nodded, rubbing the pocket
angel
that had not left her hand since their ordeal began.

"I thought the same thing," Kim whispered, "They could have been my
parents."

"People don't just come along everyday. . ." Earl begins but trails off
as
the tears choke off his words.

Shirley had to be physically carried into the Perrys' home and slept on
the
living room sofa because she couldn't get up the stairs to the bedroom.
At
73, she teaches ceramics to the elderly in Deer Park. She is in a
wheelchair
today, but is steadily regaining her strength. Her short, brown curls
frame
a weathered, determined face. Earl, wearing a t-shirt decorated with
white
Persian cats, delivers Meals on Wheels at home. They've been married for
20
years.

"I would have given anything for a glass of water," Shirley remembers.
"I
don't know how I drove as far as I did," she said, absently rubbing the
angel again.

The Perrys were going to leave for Fort Worth to wait out the storm but
once
they had taken in the Lesinas, they called, Charlene Pena, Billy's
sister
and Camp Allen staff member, to see if the nearby conference center had
room
for all of them. They joined more than 250 others who had taken refuge
there
to wait for Rita to come ashore.

One of the treasured items Earl grabbed before leaving home was a quilt
he
had embroidered. "It won a silver medal in the Harris County Senior
Olympics," he said proudly. The Lesinas packed light, Shirley said. "No
use
taking a bunch of stuff if we weren't going to have any place to put it
after the hurricane." The quilt made the trip but got stalled in Waller.
Earl presented it to the Perry's and wouldn't take it back over their
protestations. "It is special," he said. "I made it and it needs to be
with
deserving people. This is where it belongs."

The quilt has five winning poker hands embroidered on the front but the
winning hand was the grace that brought the Perrys and the Lesinas
together
on a fearful, sweltering night, alongside a crowded highway.

-- Carol Barnwell is director of communication for the Diocese of Texas.

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