Hurricane Katrina: Two and a Half Years Later

All of us around the world watched the news in horror when Katrina hit the US. Some of us donated blood, or supplies… maybe even some money. A few months later, places like the Red Cross still asked for more. Some of us again did what we could to help, even though we weren’t being given daily reports anymore. We had seen the devastation, and we felt awful for what had happened.

However….

It didn’t happen to US. We don’t live there. We don’t see it on the news anymore. We go about our daily lives, and just assume everything is all cleaned up, nice and pretty again. Life goes on. When we don’t SEE something, or aren’t directly impacted by it… it’s easy to pretend it isn’t happening. It’s easy to forget how completely GONE something can be, and how many lives were destroyed.

It IS still happening. It hit me very hard tonight. A friend of mine from an online forum I help Administrate was a victim of Hurricane Katrina. I vaguely remember him commenting about “living in a FEMA tin can” right after Katrina. He’s never mentioned another word, so I guess we all assumed things were fine and dandy. Tonight, he made a comment about it in a post, when someone brought it up. He’s STILL living in that FEMA “tin can” as he calls it. Thousands of people still have no home. Many don’t even have jobs to go to, since their place of business was wiped out. So many people lost not only their homes and belongings… but also their livelihood. Their business was destroyed, and they have no way to rebuild. It’s mind blowing to sit and think about what their life must be like now.

Yet, my friend doesn’t complain. He’s happy to be alive, and that his immediate family is alive and well. He lives each day as best he can, and still takes time to volunteer on our site and try to help others with their computer problems. He believes fully in “paying it forward”. Instead of feeling sorry for himself, or worrying about his future… he would rather sit and help others. That says a LOT about the kind of man he is, and I’m proud as hell to know him, and call him my friend.

This is definitely an eye-opener to me, in two ways:

1. I need to be more aware of the world around me. Everything isn’t always “roses”. Stop focusing on my little corner of the Earth, and look deeper into what’s really going on in other places.

2. No matter how tough my life is at times, there are SO many ways it could be a thousand times worse. So what if Beka has some medical problems? Her condition is treatable, and she will live a long, healthy life. Many thousands of children won’t. So what if money is usually “tight”? At least we have a nice place to live, food on the table, and clothes on our backs. MILLIONS of people don’t have those luxuries. So what if I am “lonely” at times? I have my daughters and granddaughter, my family, a huge host of amazing friends… and the love of the most amazing man in the world.

I am blessed, and need to take time every day to remember that.