Luck in small favors

Internet,

some of you may have already gotten an email from Fer that mentioned that our friends Joe, Sherry & Joe, their almost 1 year old (on 9/5!) baby boy, are ok in light of Hurricane Katrina. What some of you may not know is that Joe & Sherry moved back to New Orleans not too long ago to be closer to family after their son was born. Sound familiar? Well, only a few short weeks ago they moved into a new house, all their stuff was in place. So when the evacuation warnings started happening, they thought it wise to get outta dodge and wait out the storm with friends. A 2 hour drive took them 11+ hours with the number of cars on the road, but they made it safe and sound. Sounds like their new home may be no longer, and Sherry's new job may have literally washed away. Same with Joe's new landscaping company.

Unfortunately, almost everyone you know is going to have a story like this, or hear a story like this based on the lives lost and uprooted by this natural disaster. Normally, things like this don't affect me. I remember last year when Fer was watching all the coverage for the tsunami in Thailand, I couldn't relate to why it was so upsetting for him. But now I understand. He had memories there, he related. Apparrently, my memories of New Orleans is making me relate now, and its devestating.

I remember as a little girl, and through my growing up, anytime there was a hurricane headed for the Outer Banks, NC our family would watch, terrified that this would be "The One" to take, what my dad referred to as "the edge of the world" away from us. And when the Herbert C Bonner bridge was knocked into by a barge in a storm, and a chunk of it was knocked out (http://www.outerbanks.com/oregoninlet/bridgedown.htm) I remember my sister crying and asking if we would ever get to go there again. But not even the worst of the hurricanes to hit NC over the last 20 years has done anything like this.

Well, what I am getting at, is for the first time in my lifetime, an entire city, let alone whole parts of states, have been washed away or demolished. There are officials calling for the demolition of whole sections of the French Quarter once the water receeds... which could never be rebuilt the same. History and a landscape will be forever changed.

So, even if its only $10... how about we all donate, www.redcross.org or 1-800-help-now, or through the tribune: http://www.rrmtf.org/mtf/hurricanerelief.htm or even through google. The 2000 census listed the Greater New Orleans population at 1,337,726. I am sure in 5 year time that number has grown, and all those people need our help.

Peace.

-over and out-