This past weekend marked 4 years since Katrina demolished the town of New Orleans and my simple little life as I knew it. After my worldly travels I decided that I missed college and wanted to "get smarter" by furthering my education (what the hell was I thinking?). UNO was on my list of schools, one of my best friends was living in New Orleans, so we decided to get a house together. We found a beautiful rent house in Lake View. The landlord had just gutted the entire house and everything was fresh and new. For almost 2 years we made some GREAT memories in that house!
And the horror of Katrina shows up. My sister was in Lafayette, and nine months pregnant with her second child. I anxiously waited for the phone call to head home because the baby was coming. Friday morning I got the call and by that afternoon I had packed an outfit, some cute shoes, and cruised to Lafayette. Needless to say, and unbeknown to the common public, Katrina was following a day behind me. Saturday they began evacuating and I was so excited about the mandatory vacation, which meant more time with little Emily!!! Well by Tuesday I slowly realized that this little vacation was soon to be permanent, and that I had no home/life/school/job to go back to. Our home had been under about 8 feet of water for 5 days. We made a trip to the house a few weeks after the storm to find our beautiful home water logged and mildewed. I picked up a sledgehammer and with tears streaming down my face busted open my nightstand, grabbed my mothers wedding rings and walked out of my life as I knew it. Here are some pictures we took that day.....yuck!!
Tree fell on the back of the house and crushed the kitchen
My once cute bedroom
Living & dining room (walls were covered in mildew)
1 comment:
My heart goes out to you Ann Marie. I didn't know Katrina had destroyed your home. I was working for AmeriCorps during the time of Katrina and we did a lot of disaster relief in the after-math around New Orleans. The pictures and memories of the devastation Katrina caused still haunt me. You are truly a remarkable person and I admire you for being so strong.
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