A Christmas to Remember

Last year's holiday season holds fond memories for this family.

- WRITTEN BY MERYL SCHOENBAUM | PHOTOGRAPHY BY LINDA MCMANUS

Christmas has always been a special time of year for the Costanzo family as they revisit cherished memories and create new ones, but Christmas 2024 is the one they will always remember as the last Christmas before their Triadelphia, West Virginia, home, property and lives were dramatically changed forever, the calm before the storm. Bambi Lynn Costanzo shared the events of that awful day with us. We are so thankful we visited her home for this photo shoot before the disaster so the family could have this issue as a Christmas keepsake.

“June 14, 2025. A day I'll never forget. Within a matter of 20 minutes, my whole life changed,” Bambi recalls. “It started out like any other Saturday. The garden-house doors were wide open as I spent time fussing over my newly planted flowers and veggies. We had just hung a light over my outdoor sink and I couldn't wait until evening to send a picture to my husband of it all aglow. I started cutting grass but didn't finish. I left the mower in the middle of the yard as I often did. It was late afternoon by this time, and I drove down the road for a minute. As I drove home it started to rain. I ran into the house, changed my clothes and watched the light rain change to a hard rain. The runoff from the hill looked like a small river. Soon after, I climbed that hill with only my purse and dog, Bentley. I sat among the trees holding onto Ben while water filled our house.

Prepare Your Home for Disaster

Bambi's advice on dealing with a natural disaster at home.

I don't know if you can ever be truly prepared, but after this I will have a “go bag” ready at all times.

I'm not sure I could have done anything differently. The water came too fast to do anything but run out of the house and climb the hill to safety. All I could do was sit and watch.

We had a firebox for all our important papers, but it was never found (there was too much mud).