Blog Stories When Waters Rise, So Should We: A Closing Day Reflection

When Waters Rise, So Should We: A Closing Day Reflection

By Zoë Spring, July 16, 2025

When Waters Rise, So Should We: A Closing Day Reflection
— by Zoë Spring

Tomorrow, I’ll place a set of keys into the hands of two people starting a new chapter.
A moment that should feel like a simple transaction — but rarely does.

Even in joy, we can feel the weight of the world — the headlines, the hush beneath them, the invisible threads that bind our stories to those unraveling elsewhere.

Far from here, the water has risen fast. Not just the kind that rushes into streets and lingers in basements, but the kind that swells quietly — in the form of lost time, broken systems, and the aching weight of lives left behind.
You can feel it if you pause long enough. That tug of collective grief. The tension of a world tipping sideways.

And yet, even in the darkest moments — the ones that steal sleep and shatter routines — people still search for home.
Not just a house. But a refuge. A place where the air softens, where the walls remember your laughter, and the light lands just right on days when everything else feels wrong.

To lose a home is to lose a language — one spoken in footsteps and dinner tables and the hum of safety.
It’s a kind of mourning we rarely know how to name.

But I believe in something quietly radical:
The idea that when people lose the shape of their world, others can help trace it again.
Not in perfection. Not in haste. But through the shared work of reaching for one another — until wholeness begins to take shape again.
That’s how community begins to mend — by being the voice that answers when someone calls into the dark.
By being the one who shows up when it’s inconvenient.
By giving what you can, even when your own hands are tired.

So tomorrow, while I celebrate a new beginning, I’m also holding space for the endings happening elsewhere.
For the silent battles, the heavy hearts, and the homes that now exist only in memory.

And I’m asking, gently:
If you have light, share it.
If you have shelter, extend it.
If you have faith — in goodness, in people, in tomorrow — hold it high so others can see it too.

The world is weary.
But we are still here. Still reaching. Still rising.
Because even when the waters come, we are not powerless.
We are the patchwork. The bridge. The rebuilders.

And somewhere in the quiet after the storm,
we will meet each other again —
not just as strangers,
but as neighbors.

— Zoë

donation resources

https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4201

https://texsar.networkforgood.com/projects/254910-responding-to-the-july-4-texas-floods?fbclid=IwY2xjawLWSV9leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFLM0g0MlJ2OFBNNkVmSUFSAR6gXCX9A5Qywv5AsNa_zAkbR17lH893hGuqVTGMRxjrLTo65rgxp7ojXjOrDA_aem_3cb4WaDPlYOOe56jww2s5w

 

Zoë Spring

Broker | OR

She/Her

A native of Portland, I find great enjoyment in serving the community I love. My passion for giving back and helping others has always been my biggest driver...
Read More
  • T: 971-409-7761
  • zoe@livingroomre.com

You might also enjoy

Just Listed! Not So Hidden Valley Ranch

Alina Aliyar

 1818 NE 156th Ave Portland, Oregon, 97230 Nestled in a quiet cul-de-sac, this classic 1958 ranch...

Just Listed! Big Lot, Better Upgrades, Bright Future on Bull Mountain!

Lita Batho

15930 SW Colony Pl. Portland, OR 97224 Incredible location on over half an acre! Explore the...

Should Buyers & Sellers Start Moving Like There’s No Tomorrow?

Chad Meier

For quite some time now, many would-be homebuyers have been sitting on the sidelines, convinced that...

Just Listed: Welcome to Your Custom Treehouse Retreat

Julie Davis

5721 SW Salmon St Portland, Oregon, 97221 Perched above the street and nestled among the trees,...