12-28-04 - 8:38 p.m.
my brother and his wife and 2 babies were on the second floor of a friend's house, 100 yards from the beach, when the wave hit and knocked out the front and back walls. when the water receded, they escaped, miraculously, and hiked barefoot through the jungle to a mountain village where the locals shared their rice and water. my brother played medic to the injured with neosporin and bandaids. the thai airforce flew them to bangkok where they are now entrenched in a hotel, trying to destress and shopping for clothes and shoes. because of the new year and sold-out transportation, they can't make it back to their home in ubon, but hey, they're alive.