Close To Home September 2, 2005
One of the reasons I think I’m able to feel the way I do right now is because all of this devastation is happening in our backyard. Yes, we only moved to Louisiana less than four weeks ago, but I grew up here. I spent the first 18 years of my life here, and it will always be home.
I don’t know why I’ve been so illusive about where we actually live in my recent posts. It’s not like I hold back on anything else on my blog. Anyway, we’re in Lafayette which is about 135 miles west of New Orleans, and we’re seeing the effects of Katrina here in many ways.
There are tens and tens of thousands of evacuees who are now living in Lafayette. Many shelters, including the Cajun Dome, have been opened for the evacuees and have all filled up very quickly. Many people are looking for temporary housing only to be turned away at every step. The office at our apartment complex is getting so many calls that they set up a special voicemail system. When I went in to pay rent yesterday there was a sign on the front door of the office that read: NO VACANCIES, OFFICE CLOSED. I feel so badly for all of these people who have no real homes now. Where are they all going to live? How are they going to get new jobs?
So many things sadden me about the aftermath of Katrina. My brother’s girlfriend, or ex girlfriend or something, lived in New Orleans. She was able to evacuate before the storm hit and is staying with my brother in Fort Worth (they were doing the long distance thing). There’s a chance that she has lost a lot of her possessions, but thankfully she has insurance and now has a place to stay and has even found a new job to tide her over. She is one of the lucky ones.
My brother told me that she has already received $100 worth of makeup from a cosmetic company and six pairs of contacts from one of the big online contacts sites. I’m glad companies are helping out people who have been displaced from their homes, but it also gives me pause. I mean, wouldn’t it be better if these companies donated money or food and water to help all of the people who are stuck in New Orleans? I mean, some of these people are literally dying of dehydration. Don’t they need water more than than the people who have made it out need makeup? I just don’t get it. Why concentrate your efforts on the people who have already been able to help themselves?
I could go on and on. I know that Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama will never be the same. I know it will be months before people will be able to go back and and try to start over. It just breaks my heart.
I know that I have every right to tune this stuff out and focus on me right now. I know I have the right to be selfish. You know what, though? I don’t want to.
Ever since the storm hit, there’s been a crawler of information at the bottom of the TV screen on our local stations giving out all kinds of information. Last night there was a request for volunteers to help out in our city. I immediately thought about doing it, but then realized it probably wouldn’t be the best idea given this whole miscarriage situation.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not shutting out my pain. Not at all. But just like I said yesterday, I know I’m not the only one hurting. I think it’s ok, and maybe even healthy, for me to focus on that right now.
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Oh, and if anyone wants to read my hubby’s perspective on Katrina, he’s been blogging about it all week. Heck, he even got linked to on the Newsweek site. Pretty cool.
- Posted in : various other ramblings
- Author : amanda
Comments»
It seems to me that you are having a very healthy response to everything that has happened over the last couple of weeks in your life. I am thinking of you.
I am from south Georgia and have lived in southern Alabama and most of my extended family is in Mississippi, so reading and hearing about the devastation on the Gulf Coast really hits home for me, too. I am so sad about it.
Just wrote a long comment about how this tragedy is humbling on so many levels. But then I erased it. You said it so well.
Please let me know what, on a practical level, I can do. DH & I went to college in New Orleans and we’re just devastated. It is utterly horrifying to see what’s going on in an American city, how slow relief efforts are, and yet, how many people here in the Northeast are oblivious or are going on with daily life as normal. We’re giving $$ to the Red Cross, and I tried to call them about volunteering to fundraise, but I’m at a loss for what else I can do.
I’ve been so disturbed by everything that’s happened in New Orleans and the other locations that were hit. I thought what we experienced in FL last year was bad but it was nothing compared to this. I wish that I could do more to help but, being so far away, the best we’ve been able to do is donate as much money as we can. I also donated to Petco for the animals affected by the storm. I have no idea what is happening to most of them but it really broke my heart when I saw they weren’t allowing people to take their dogs on to buses. This whole thing has got to be even more upsetting for you having grown up in LA and being relatively close to the disaster area. It’s admirable that your mind is with the victims of the storm more than it is on your own situation but thinking of yourself here is certainly not selfish. You are handling it so well, but I don’t think anyone would disagree that you are dealing with something devastating too.
Such an awful disaster, it’s utterly terrible. I can’t believe that whole Superdome situation, it’s like some incredible version of Hell.
I have visited your husband’s site and sent the address on to friends in Australia - we’re getting selected news coverage.
And then there are those of us living oceans away that have no idea how to help. Off to read your hubbys site now.
Amanda, You are an amazing woman I just don’t have the words to say how much I admire your strength and perspective. as always your in my thoughts (and not in the stalker kinda way)
Amanda, thanks for sharing your points of view. I’ve read and watched a lot about the situation this morning and had to stop - it’s just overwhelming, and that’s from 6000 miles away. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be so close - safe but intimately connected to the disaster.
Keep doing what feels right for you.
I’ve been ranting and raving and crying about this horrible situation in Lousiana, Mississippi and Alabama all wknd… Glad to hear your perspective.