Your post brings tears to my eyes, Paul. Such strength, such belief, such resilience. You, your family, and your friends are examples to us all. I am humbled by every one of you.
Wishing you well,
Kathryn
-
Your positive attitude throughout it all is a great lesson in perspective. Keep up the good spirits. -
Wow Paul. You have had to deal with so much it's heartbreaking. However, I know that if anyone can survive, it's you - especially with all the support you have. I know you will come through this stronger. 💪Leave a comment:
-
Wow, I can't even imagine. I'm so glad that everyone's ok, and that you were able to have a roof over your head after that. -
I am glad you and your family are safe and have such strong community support. Things can only get better from here for sure! -
So glad to see you’re all safe and it’s so great you had a place to go. You seem to be surrounded by loving people. -
Paul - I wish I could be there to lend a hand. I know from personal experience how much time and effort it takes to keep a BBQ business going, the prospect of having to deal with this on the home front too must be brutal. Sending you all our best from the Meat Monsters Pit Crew, Ellon, Scotland.Leave a comment:
-
Wow Paul! You have been through a LOT! Thank God for your safety, blessings, and perspective! -
Paul, that is an amazing and inspiring story. God is so good to keep your family safe even through the storm, and you are so fortunate you had another place to move to on the same day, with the help of your friends and church. I'm off to subscribe on Youtube so I can watch that video now... -
Well, it's been a year or so, hasn't it. Being a part of thePit was a big part of my origin story in barbecue. Opening a restaurant has absorbed so much time I'm just not back in the saddle at the computer posting with you guys as much. I miss ya'll!!!!
We've had the Big Hurricane, Laura, August 27th. Then a follow up storm, Hurricane Delta, a month later. Then the winter storm freeze in Jan. Then 20 inches of rain in 5 hours in May. (Then a fire at one of my other businsses...)
Then...last Wednesday, a Tornado destroyed my personal home.
It was small but powerful. About 1 house wide. Came in from this direction. My wife was sitting in the living room, behind that Stucco colored room in the middle (the dining room). She heard the sound of glass and disegenterating wood and ran to the right (in this pic), grabbed the daughter that was home, and into a small bathroom.
This is the back side of my house. In ballistics, they call the the Exit Wound.
As I said, My wife and one of my daughters were home. It all happened very fast. My wife heard glass break and other terrible structural noises (the house breaking apart) and ran into the daughters bedroom, and then quickly to the 2nd bath (left side in this pic). It was all over in maybe 30 seconds.​
This is the big room in the middle of the house, looking back. The wall you see there is about 2 feet back from where it's supposed to be. My engineer friend quickly improvised a couple of columns to keep us safe in the cleanup.
Here's the garage...with a new skylight! We cooked so much barbecue from this garage, and learned so much, and shared it with you guys in thePit!
The cars in the driveway got a quick remodel. The Pod, holding stuff from Hurricane Laura, moved and hit the wife's car. The front of the Suburban shoved into my precious Jambo, which is impaled somewhat on the grill of the suburban. .
Here it looks my my precious Jambo and my wife's suburban are getting married!
This is the first pit I cooked a rack of ribs on. It has a charcoal grate you can raise and lower. Front opening to add fuel. Pull out ash pan on the bottom. Foldable tables on each side. It's fantastic! They don't make it anymore. I've searched hard to find a similar one. This one's still got a little life in her, don't you think?
Here's the front view....complete with a Love Refreshment package from the local Chic-Fil-A! The owner eats at our restaurant and called and checked on us. He was out of town, and his wife said, "Just sent them a bunch of food!" It was so needed and thoughtful!
​
The BIG PART of this story is how my church and friends rallied to us. When my wife called, she said a Tornado hit the house and she could see the sky. (She did not know how bad the house was. She didn't see the "Exit Wound" until the next day...and cried!) I was at one of our other businesses and immediately called Sam, Pitmaster at Paul's Rib Shack, which is about a mile away from my house. Immediately hurried to my house to give aid to my family. He sped and ran over debris (getting a flat) to get there in just, literally, two minutes. I texted the Elders group chat at our church, and then people started pouring in. The local news put my wife and kids on. The calls and texts kept coming.
We actually had bought another home and were doing a couple updates to it, and were about 3 weeks away from move-in. Well, Tornado day became Move-In Day. One of my other church Elders rented a big U-Haul box truck, and the 40-50 people there moved us to the new house in about 6 hours. Here's the crew that stayed until the last trailer was unloaded, about 9 pm, if memory serves. Sam, the Operations Leader and Head Pitmaster at the best barbecue joint we know how to make, is center back. Silas, #WorkerofMiracles at our place, is in the Red in the center. Colin, an OG part of the RibShack story, is right next to me. My brother in Christ, Allen, is in front. He's been such a huge part of our life and our barbecue story since before the beginning. They stayed with me until the last box was unloaded and sitting within the perimeter of our new home that night.
​
Resiliency is learned in the grind. One of my friends found our flag and reattached it to a birdfeeder stand. The news put our street on the TV, and lots of people seemed to be driving by. So I put a banner from our restaurant on the house, with the Heartbeat statements that emerged following Hurricane Laura:
What Makes America Strong? Well, I'll tell ya: We
Trust Our God,
Help Our Neighbors,
&
Love Our Country
​
The next day was my birthday, and I went back to the house and surveyed the damage, and our path forward. The big picture is that my wife and daughter are ok. My home is demolished, but we are not. One of my daughters reposted the story of my oldest daughter, Hannah, reflecting on our situation:
This event is hopefully the Capstone on the Era of Natural Disasters in Lake Charles. My daughter, the Marketing Leader at our Place, is writing an article about our hear, titled Grit and Grace. She wrote that before the Tornado, and this Post Script to our year will add to article even more.
I recorded a reflection on this day on my Birthday, I'm attaching it below from my Youtube channel.
"It's my Birthday! I have a request, call it a Birthday Present you can give me: I have a message of Hope in the Storm to share with you below, and would be honored for you and I so spend a few minutes together in my yard, seeing how we can use ALL circumstances, even a tornado destroying your house, to see the most important things more clearly."
Love,
Paul
#TrustOurGod #HelpOurNeighbors #LoveOurCountry
Attached FilesLast edited by PaulstheRibList; November 3, 2021, 07:46 AM.Leave a comment:
-
Leave a comment: