HOUSTON - Elgia Florianic has had two Harvey's in her life.
“I'm going to kind of get rid of the one Harvey," Elgia said. One is Harvey, the man she’s been married to for almost 54 years. The other Harvey was the storm that’s taken her Meyerland home of 47 years.
“The hurricane definitely has changed my life, but my husband, it’s been great. It really has. My life was not turned upside down when I got married. It’s been awesome, it really has," Elgia said.
With several feet of water inside their home, six months later Harvey and Elgia are still rebuilding and still living in a hotel room.
“It just took time to get things going, that’s the biggest thing," Harvey said.
Only a few things have been constant for Elgia this past year - her love for her Harvey and their love for the rodeo. The two have been volunteering at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo for more than a decade. So this year when rodeo season came around, it wasn’t even a question of whether or not they’d be back.
“I have made so many friends over the years. This is something we look forward to every year. It boiled down to friendship. I mean, we have two families. We have the regular family and the rodeo family," Harvey said.
In a life that looks nothing like it used to, having a piece of normalcy finally back in it helps moving forward that much easier.
“Life has to move forward, and we’re just happy," Elgia said. "We go back to the hotel room in the evening, of course we’re tired and worn out, but it’s fun. We talk about it, and say who we’ve run into. It’s a great adventure, great experience and a great love for what we do.”