'We had each other. We had a house.' Couple puts life in perspective after storms
When a May 7 storm pelted near baseball-size hail on Chatham, it damaged the roof of Jim and Julie Korte's home beyond repair.
The retired couple was set to have it replaced when another disaster struck.
A large branch sheared off an ash tree during the June 29 derecho, puncturing the same roof. It also left the couple without power for nearly a week, and they lost everything in their refrigerator and freezer.
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The Kortes learned lightning, or in this case, storms, can strike twice, but they have put the misfortune in perspective.
"We had each other. We had a house," Julie Korte said. "We had been through a lot the last few years, but everything could be fixed. There are things that are priorities in life."
When he was a teenager, Jim Korte saw his family's 150-year-old farmhouse in Breese, Illinois, burn down to the ground, though he and all his family members escaped.
He used that as a touchstone for dealing with problems with the house earlier this year.
"You learn over time," said the former University of Illinois Springfield administrator, "as long as you're all safe, healthy, and together, you can literally weather everything else."
Julie Korte said a 2020 breast cancer diagnosis made her confront her mortality. The retired Glenwood High School science teacher said she tries to start every day listing in her mind the things that make her grateful.
"I'm not one that says God gave me cancer. I'm not one that says God sent the derecho," she said. "I think that's life. But (the gratefulness) gives you strength or an outlook on how to handle things."
Towards the end of the summer, the Kortes hosted a "We Survived the Derecho Party," inviting other neighbors from their Birch Grove subdivision, many of whom also lost roofs or whose homes sustained other types of damage.
"We were fortunate to have a good neighborhood, a town that was very attentive, and friends that helped us," Julie Korte said. "I think maybe a prayer would be to remember those who don't have that."
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Chatham couple weathers two storms with gratitude and perspective
