Yesterday I was at a large department store with my mom. In the aftermath of Katrina, my mother discovered that all of her shoes were ruined.
Ya'll, my mom is like the Honduran Imelda so this was no small loss. She even lost shoes that she had yet to wear.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking shit about her habit because I'm just as bad.
When we moved, S carried out three large Tupperware bins and was appalled to discover they were all filled with shoes.
So, we walked into said department store and they were having a shoe sale. All of their fancy brands were on sale for 50% off or greater. So, we dove in and started elbowing the Sunday crowd out of our way.
As we were walking away from the discount racks (each of us with six pairs of shoes under our arms) I asked mom, "Where do you think our obsession with shoes comes from?"
She got this pensive look, hitched up the boxes under her arms and said, "Well, everyone has to have a hobby."
Monday, September 12, 2005
Thursday, September 08, 2005
I Send My Heart Down to New Orleans
I don't even know where to begin when it comes to Katrina and New Orleans.
I grew up in Metairie, just 10 minutes outside of New Orleans, and the city I loved so much is now under God only knows how many feet of filth and sludge. And, don't give me that shit about how New Orleans was always a cesspool.
New Orleans has character.
My family is fine. They all got out okay, but they have very little to go back to. My parent's house is still standing, although at some point it had 12 inches of water. They are there right now pulling carpets, dragging wet furniture, box springs, clothes and shoes to the curb. Fortunately, the windows were not blown out and no trees fell on the house.
They lost a lot of their posessions, but most things can be replaced. The heartbreaking losses are the family pictures, our christening gowns and all of those little things that seem to take up space and collect dust, but are physical reminders of where you've been in life. Those things cannot be replaced.
I have a lot of family pictures, so my first priority will be copying them and assembling them in an album for my mom and dad. I am also lucky enough to have a copy of their wedding invitation (from January of 1970) and wedding picture. I was already working on framing them for their anniversary.
I know it doesn't seem like much, but I'm hoping that having those family pictures will help in the healing process. My mom is a tough cookie and I needed no greater proof than a trip we took to the local Goodwill to know that she will be okay. In her search for "new" clothes she said to me, "I don't know what I was thinking when I left. I really thought we'd be back in a few days." She got teary eyed and I thought she was going to cry, when all of a sudden she took a deep breath, thrust her shoulders back and declared, "Enough of that . . . get to work on finding me a pair of black Capri pants."
It's going to take time, but she's on her way.
I saw pictures of my high school today: Mount Carmel Academy. The Mother House looks fine, but I think the first floor may have gotten water. I've never actually been in there though, so I don't know if that first floor was just storage or what. The high school though has water up to the second floor. The whole first floor was under water thanks to the breach at the 17th Street canal.
I was stunned.
I've never been much of a joiner. My so's sister-in-law went to my high school and she's immediate past president of the alumnae association: she is a joiner. Regardless of my apathetic approach to our alumnae association, Mount Carmel has always held a special place in my heart.
I formed my closest friendships there and without those girls I would be a completely different person today. Janine Espinal and Nicole Danos helped me laugh when a boy broke my heart, they helped me study for tests, but most of all they made high school fun.
We don't talk on the phone every day, every week or every month, but right now I can't stop thinking about them, their families, their homes and whether or not everyone is okay.
The school has a website set up with a bulletin board for teachers, students and alumnae and it just kills me that all these girls who were looking forward to starting a new year, some of whom were entering their final year at Mount Carmel, are now displaced. They sound so lost, they don't know if they should register at the high school where they are currently living. They haven't seen the pictures.
They are in Texas, Alabama, Tennessee, Indiana . . . but, wherever they are, in their hearts they will forever be sisters of Mount Carmel. I don't know when the school will reopen it's doors, but I plan on helping in any way I can.
That's what you do for family.
I grew up in Metairie, just 10 minutes outside of New Orleans, and the city I loved so much is now under God only knows how many feet of filth and sludge. And, don't give me that shit about how New Orleans was always a cesspool.
New Orleans has character.
My family is fine. They all got out okay, but they have very little to go back to. My parent's house is still standing, although at some point it had 12 inches of water. They are there right now pulling carpets, dragging wet furniture, box springs, clothes and shoes to the curb. Fortunately, the windows were not blown out and no trees fell on the house.
They lost a lot of their posessions, but most things can be replaced. The heartbreaking losses are the family pictures, our christening gowns and all of those little things that seem to take up space and collect dust, but are physical reminders of where you've been in life. Those things cannot be replaced.
I have a lot of family pictures, so my first priority will be copying them and assembling them in an album for my mom and dad. I am also lucky enough to have a copy of their wedding invitation (from January of 1970) and wedding picture. I was already working on framing them for their anniversary.
I know it doesn't seem like much, but I'm hoping that having those family pictures will help in the healing process. My mom is a tough cookie and I needed no greater proof than a trip we took to the local Goodwill to know that she will be okay. In her search for "new" clothes she said to me, "I don't know what I was thinking when I left. I really thought we'd be back in a few days." She got teary eyed and I thought she was going to cry, when all of a sudden she took a deep breath, thrust her shoulders back and declared, "Enough of that . . . get to work on finding me a pair of black Capri pants."
It's going to take time, but she's on her way.
I saw pictures of my high school today: Mount Carmel Academy. The Mother House looks fine, but I think the first floor may have gotten water. I've never actually been in there though, so I don't know if that first floor was just storage or what. The high school though has water up to the second floor. The whole first floor was under water thanks to the breach at the 17th Street canal.
I was stunned.
I've never been much of a joiner. My so's sister-in-law went to my high school and she's immediate past president of the alumnae association: she is a joiner. Regardless of my apathetic approach to our alumnae association, Mount Carmel has always held a special place in my heart.
I formed my closest friendships there and without those girls I would be a completely different person today. Janine Espinal and Nicole Danos helped me laugh when a boy broke my heart, they helped me study for tests, but most of all they made high school fun.
We don't talk on the phone every day, every week or every month, but right now I can't stop thinking about them, their families, their homes and whether or not everyone is okay.
The school has a website set up with a bulletin board for teachers, students and alumnae and it just kills me that all these girls who were looking forward to starting a new year, some of whom were entering their final year at Mount Carmel, are now displaced. They sound so lost, they don't know if they should register at the high school where they are currently living. They haven't seen the pictures.
They are in Texas, Alabama, Tennessee, Indiana . . . but, wherever they are, in their hearts they will forever be sisters of Mount Carmel. I don't know when the school will reopen it's doors, but I plan on helping in any way I can.
That's what you do for family.
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