Loss of a childhood touchstone

Throughout Maxwell's thirteen years we have taken him to Pensacola Beach, Florida in the Fall. We used to stay at Barbary Coast. It was a wonderful cinderblock motel. Old-fashioned with kitchenettes and large studio style rooms, it was damaged by Erin and destroyed by Opal in 1995. The next year we found Villas on the Gulf and stayed in a Le Leche League friend's condo right after it was repaired from Opal. In subsequent years we've called various places in VOG home. We evacuated with everyone else last year as Ivan approached. Four of five condo buildings on the gulffront were destroyed. Today we watch The Weather Channel and cry as Hurricane Dennis rages across "our" tender half-mile wide island and destroys any hopes we had of being able to return this year. We were only there a few days last fall before we had to evacuate. We're grateful we have a snug home in Memphis to escape too. Many of our friends on the island were still not in their homes and are evacuated once again. The beach is our family's safe haven. We rest, reflect and restore ourselves for the coming year (we go around Rosh Hashanah) and we all noticed that without that touchstone, this year has been more challenging. We hope everyone near the storm remains safe and pray our little island survives, but know we will probably not be able to visit this year. It remained closed for 8 months after Ivan. We're praying for sudden weakening of the storm! It JUST dropped to a category THREE!!! I'm full of hope and goose-bumps!