That's how long it's been since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama gulf coasts, but it feels like a lifetime. I, of course, don't live there every day and see its damage, so I can't really speak as a true native anymore -- but what I have seen has changed my perspective on life entirely.
As a transplant from a place that once was, here are my post-Katrina thoughts, one year later:
1. Thank God my family is safe.
2. What the freak happened?
3. Was that storm really THAT big?
4. For the love of all that's good and holy, stop talking about effin New Orleans as though nothing else was affected.
5. Man. Nature is powerful.
6. I love storms. And now I kind of hate them, too.
7. Those insurance companies had better be glad they didn't hurt my grandparents. I'm pretty sure I would get vicious.
8. It still is a disaster area in some spots, though much hard work has gone into cleaning and rebuilding.
9. Where, pray tell, is Tullis? From the ripe young age of 5, I had big plans to commit myself to the love of my life there.
10. I heart my coast, its people and its spirit.
To those of you who have survived and continue to show that spirit, thank you for giving me something to work toward.
To those of you who care and have shown it, thank you. Even though everything has changed, home is still home. God bless you for caring and showing it -- in any way.
And to those who we lost to Katrina -- in any way -- no one knew her strength and power until she attacked our landscape. We honor you for doing what you thought was right, and we hope we are loving your family and friends properly.
One year is not a very long time to a place that was literally turned upside down in one day -- but it's a lifetime to those who live with the reality of the disaster.
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Well put, Bekah.
Posted by Jams on September 5, 2006 - Tuesday 9:05 PM
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Throw me sumthin', mister!