Anniversary

On a happier note, today is also Phil's birthday. Happy Birthday Phil!

Happy, Happy, Phil.

Wow, I never knew. Mom said to check the posts from this time last year. I can barely stand to watch all the footage from that time. I was living in the middle of it and keep trying to put it behind me. I'd say I was traumatized and didn't realize it. It was pure chaos here. And then there was a small window of time in the morning when I could make a phone call to anyone outside of the 504 and 985 area codes. I got Aunt MaryAnn first. I was elated to talk to her, and her sympathy and concern made me feel less isolated. We did without power for 4 days and nights before my brother-in-law travelled down from Cleveland, MS to bring us gas to get out of town. There was none around here and we wasted half a tank trying to find some. You'd hear rumors of where it was going to be and cars would line up for hours outside of that gas station. Fights were breaking out in those lines - tensions always rise when it is 100' outside and no relief from the heat.

When we finally did get to our Hampton Inn room, 6 hours from Mandeville, we turned on CNN and ohmygoodness, we thought we narrowly escaped our mess of a home, but seeing the floods, hearing of the Convention Center and Superdome problems, I had to count my many blessings. We stayed glued to the tv for at least an hour, watching all the news, having been deprived for days. I had little idea of how others were faring and mostly yearned for news of Mississippi, knowing that we didn't get the worst of it - bad as it was.

Since then, I have heard many stories from folks who survived Katrina. One couple I met at the restaurant clung to a tree for three days after, their house, with them inside it, washed into Lake Catherine. She said that she didn't even know it moved at first. At one point, she came eye-to-eye with an alligator. They married shortly after the storm. They are still living in a FEMA trailer and plan to rebuild in the same area. I don't know about that...

Janine -- I didn't know you were able to call Aunt Mary Ann during that terrible time. I wonder why your cell worked and nobody else's -- or were you using your house phone? Yes, it is horrible to go back to, but I've done it several times and I can't seem to get enough of it. I just love all the comments, the expressions of love and concern and horror and disbelief. It's just so wonderful to be in the midst of so many caring friends and relatives while we were suspended in sorrow and sadness over what was happening.