09-04-2025
Daffodils remind Mitchell County man of the beauty in life
MITCHELL COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY HOMETOWN) — The memories. 'It took all that pipe out.'
The sense of safety. 'Most of it's up and down the creek.'
And the life Lanny Wright built has all crumbled. 'I'm kind of disgusted. I worked 55 years for this,' said Lanny. 'So… it ain't much.'
Though it's been months, Hurricane Helne keeps taking more of what little he has left.
'Everywhere you look, it's just bad,' said Lanny. 'Everything is heartbreaking.'
He wasn't home when the water wiped out his driveway and swept away the house his wife, Karen, grew up in.
'This side was a house- it was a two story. It was actually where Karen was born and raised,' said Lanny, pointing to a Chimney and a few bricks left on the ground.
Karen passed away four years ago. Her touches were all over the life they built together in Mitchell County.
'It's still moving,' sighed Lanny.
Right now, her little beauty salon she ran is perched on the edge of a cliff. Every time Lanny sees it, he thinks of her.
'They think it'll fall before they can get it fixed,' said Lanny.
It'll cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix what the hurricane did- it's money Lanny doesn't have.
'With how much time you put into it,' said Lanny, choking up. 'This place used to look good, but not anymore.'
Right when Lanny can't look anymore, something catches his eye. The daffodils Karen planted all those years ago have suddenly bloomed.
'She loved those things,' said Lanny, looking down at the yellow flowers.
Maybe those flowers are hope. Maybe those flowers are Karen- telling him to hold on.
Maybe something beautiful can still grow here. Maybe…
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