For more than fifteen years, I have traveled to Asheville, North Carolina, sometimes twice a year, holding Continuing Legal Education programs for lawyers and paralegals from that part of the state in the downtown law offices of Van Winkle.

Two women who were long time paralegals there, came to almost every program I ever held and became my good friends.

Now, with Asheville suffering deeply from the ravages ot he recent storm, I called them recently to see how they were doing.

Both they and their families are safe, but they each have stories about their city, how they are coping in a place that is likely to be without water and infrastructure for some time.

They tell the story of resilience that will take a long time and will be hard. It is a story of the grit that will help get everyone there.