Recovery, lessons

Ferencich and Cusack’s season of rebuilding, along with everyone else that was in the path of the storm, would take time.

For about a month and half we lived in an apartment,” Cusack said. “The only apartment we could get, though, was on the second floor. My youngest daughter went kind of wild if there was any kind of storm or tornado because the house that we’d had was a two-story house and her bedroom was upstairs and the whole second floor was raked off. So she knew what was going to happen if there was a tornado and you’re on the top floor.”

Ferencich said the time after the storm was filled with people ready to help, and the outreach and pouring out of generosity from the community did not go unnoticed.

Having survived a tornado, both Cusack and Ferencich said it taught them a thing or two.

“What I learned was it’s stuff … forget the stuff … people are more important and relationships are,” Ferencich said. “Doesn’t matter if you ever get that stuff back. Get close to people and God … that’s important.”

In the midst of the wildfires burning across California and in the aftermath of the recent hurricanes hitting Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico, Cusack offered some encouraging words to those picking up the pieces of their homes.

“I know where you are. I know what you’re going through. It’s really rough… But you’re still here. You’re here for a purpose. You got to just hang in there. It’s hard to see, why you’d still be here, but everybody’s here for a reason. There’s more of a plan than what we know.”