FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — Sue Lowry evacuated from Ft. Myers Beach last minute ahead of Hurricane Ian. She didn’t take a lot of belongings because she thought she would be back home fairly quickly.
Like many others, Lowry's home ended up being washed away by the storm. All that’s left is a concrete slab, some front steps and rubble.
“I would have been dead if I would have stayed in that house; my kids are like we would have no parents,” Lowry said.
After a neighbor told Lowry her house was gone, she was devastated. She lost years of memories inside that home. The one item she was most upset about leaving behind was the urn with her late husbands ashes inside.
Lowry said her husband, John, was the love of her life and he loved living on Ft. Myers Beach. He died of cancer four years ago.
"When he died I couldn’t even leave my house for four months," she said. "It was the most devastating thing to me."
On Saturday, Lowry and her son returned to Ft. Myers Beach. They wanted to see if they could collect any belongings and find John's urn.
"So we went there and I was picking up stuff and throwing it back down," Lowry explained. "All of the sudden I just turned around and I looked and I had to look like three times and I screamed at the top of my lungs."
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Lowry said Johns urn was perfectly intact.
"He was sitting on a cement slab just sitting there straight up his urn," she said.
Lowry is currently staying with family members because she doesn’t have a place to live. Although she has lost so much, she is so thankful she still has the love of her life by her side.
“When I have his urn I feel like he is close to me and he’s helping me,” she said.
If you want to donate to Lowry as she works to find a new home you can find her GoFundMe here.