Letter: Recovery inspiring, but then this

As a St. Helena Island resident in the recovery process after Hurricane Matthew, it is very heartening to see everyone pulling together and helping their family, friends and neighbors. All of the amazing stories of acts of kindness, caring and giving reinforces my love of the Lowcountry and the decision to move here a few years ago.

Our little community has months of recovery in front of us. We are strong, though, and will do what it takes to get our little piece of heaven back to being beautiful.

Giving myself a little break from all of the cleanup, to enjoy a beautiful day and to treat myself to a relaxing afternoon, I chose to spend it on the beautiful downtown waterfront of Beaufort.

Beaufort is beautiful too and I certainly took it all in, absorbing its beauty and peacefulness. I felt renewed and ready to once again continue the cleanup.

I returned to my car to find that bright green violation notice on my windshield. Ah yes, that two-hour maximum parking time limit. As I forgot all of the challenges of the day, I forgot that the city of Beaufort wants you parked in the lovely downtown for only two hours. I tried to put more money in, but it would not let me as certain parking spaces have a maximum time limit of two hours. How supportive that is for our downtown businesses.

Thank you, Beaufort, in supporting residents during their recovery process with the gift of parking violations.

This story was originally published October 26, 2016 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Letter: Recovery inspiring, but then this."