Since Katrina... I have found that at 70 and 'a cancer survivor, I can still pick myself up and put one foot in front of the other and keep going. We lost our home to a slab near the beach in Biloxi. We took nothing when we left on Saturday because the storm was heading west of New Orleans and we thought we would only get 50-60mph winds, ie: limbs and minor debris. We took one change of clothes because we thought we would be returning Monday evening or Tuesday morning and just need to clean our yard. You can't begin to know the feeling of driving down US90, dodging debris and changing from lane to lane, to make it to our street. Once there, we could see all the homes gone! Fifteen to the ground and another eight flooded but standing.
After looking at the mess all we could do was thank God we didn't stay and begin the struggle to regain our lives. I lost everything in Camille in 1969 with 9 feet of water in my house but we rebuilt it and recovered in a couple of years. I was only in my 30's then and it was much easier.
Now, over a year later, we are still in a FEMA trailer (which I am thankful for) and trying to rebuild a house we bought with storm damage.
Yet, after all this, we feel luckier than most. I was able to get a job and we are doing pretty good now. Yes, we miss our pictures, antiques, art, family heirlooms, etc. but in reality, they are only things but they were our things.
God bless all the survivors and success on your recovery.
Contributed by Larry
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