The Sun Herald asked me to write this 300-word commemorative piece on the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Maybe Ill write a new one next year, but this one still fits. Love to my many, many battlefield comrades! 43,824 hours: 1,826 days: 260 weeks: 60 months: five years. That’s the timeframe in which we have existed. First, it was hour by painstaking hour. Then, the days dawned and set, turning into weeks. Halloween meant two months; Christmas four. Six months seemed like a monumental milestone. The first anniversary celebratory yet somber. They say the passage of time heals all wounds. Disaster tosses time into a vacuum. It is only the moment staring you in the face that matters… and the answers to endless questions. How many people need shelter? How many shelters do we have? Is there water? Is there food? Are people dry and clothed? Do they have their medication, their oxygen, their insulin, their inhaler? Is their heartbreak consuming their heartbeat? Identify the problems; find solutions. Communicate. Identify the problems; find solutions. Communicate. Identify the problems; find solutions. Communicate. Oh yeah, eat and sleep. More problems, fewer solutions, little eating, even less sleeping. The mind is spinning, the body is wearing, the breaking point is nearing, but it does not arrive. It is not welcome among survivors! The second year was predictably harder. The adrenaline-pumped sprint slowed down to a trot, which seemed like a loss of momentum. The walking weary kept going but with more stumbling. The sense of community, real camaraderie and fellowship, persevered, though. It is the Mayberry Network that saved us: from the first days to the fifth year. Knowing each other, supporting each other, caring for each other. Understanding our mission in this human experience we call life. Understanding there is great strength in loving our neighbors and recovering together. Empty lots remain but not empty lives. Struggles persist but not hopeless strife. Lessons learned outweigh the mistakes. Joy comes in the morning, satisfaction in the evening. August 29, it is our V-K Day.
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 15:23:44 +0000