Are things getting better?

In an early blog we had a heading with the above heading and it’s something that has been going over in my head since I have been back. I mean, wow it’s been what two years since Katrina and Rita hit this coast. So one would think in that time things are back to “normal,” but as the fire chief told us, the suicide rate has tripled and that by itself says a handful.

Last night Mike and I played for some friends, Ernie and Jean at their home. We met Ernie and his wife through Jo &Terri. And Ernie brought over some of his friends who happened to be crab fishermen, Bill & Donnie.

Now Bill told us his story how he saved his boat by sailing up stream and he indeed save it but his homes were and still are flat out gone. To rebuild takes a pile of money and Bill is first and foremost a crab fishermen so he has to stay afloat. Bill, by just looking at him you would say he’s a damn hard worker and he is doing the best he can to come back to a somewhat a “normal” life. When you have worked a lifetime to build what you have and to have it taken away in a rush, well you just don’t bounce right back. And Bill’s story of insurance companies and FEMA is a story we hear over and over again. Better? Normal?

Wherever Mike and I go, we see building going on. Brand new projects are all over the place. Then right next to something that not has been touched since those terrible days that August of 2005. The scale is something that is hard to wrap one’s head around. It goes on for miles and miles, where ever you go.

When Mike and I first came down we got to our base camp and met Gordon. We asked, “Gordon how are ya doing?” He was sitting down on his deck with his head down and said under his breath, “Oh, its going ok, but Mr. Washington died last night because FEMA took away his trailer and he died from exposure.” Mike and I just looked at each other, “welcome back” I thought. Better? Normal?

So getting back to the question, is it getting better? You bet it is, but one could feel under the surface that there is underlining pressure that in order to get this far from that mess there is also a cost.

The tragic occurrence over two years ago cost more than lives. It took away something that you can’t see. It is something inside these folks that can never be replaced, no matter how much money is spent, or how many buildings go up. Time heals wounds, but they leave scars, internally as well as externally. Some of them, we will never actually see, but they are there just the same.

Are things getting better? Of course they are. But there is still a long way to go. It’s not the time to stop coming down to help yet!

http://www.dragonfly.com/ is sending entertainers to the devastated areas in Louisiana and Mississippi.