5 Year Plan

In January of 2005, my mother made a New Year's Resolution.  "I'm going to purge all of my stuff and get rid of everything I don't need", she said.  Never think that God doesn't have a sense of humor.

I can't believe it's been that long since the world turned upside down.  Katrina devastated so much of a region, and so many families, including mine.  I was, of course, living in Birmingham at the time and still had the comfort of my worldly possessions. My parents home, a sanctuary to all us kids, was left filled with logs and water from a 30 foot storm surge. My godparents' home was effectively turned into a duplex. Nothing was salvageable, but that didn't stop us from trying. I still have water-damaged photos from a scrapbook that was left behind.  No one thought it would or could be so bad, but it was. So much of what happened is still unfathomable as I watch the news reports this morning, the 5-year anniversary.

The weekend before Katrina hit, I went home to visit.  Looking back, I'm so happy I was able to visit one last time. I went for selfish reasons-I was looking to my mom and dad for courage and resilience to dump my live-in boyfriend.  This was a LONG time coming, and I certainly should have done it years before.  Anyway, I got home on Friday night, and my mom mentioned, "You know, they say there's going to be a hurricane".  We've been through a million hurricanes, and no one was worried.  Just reinforce the windows and find somewhere dry to go.

My sister had made the homecoming court that year, soon Saturday we went to the mall to buy some clothes and shoes for homecoming week.  I was so excited to help her shop, and we had a great time.  The mall was packed, and only a murmur of "gotta go board up the windows" was heard. After shopping, we went back to the house and helped to reinforce the privacy fence.  I got blisters, but that fence was still standing after the storm.  By Saturday night the storm had strengthened and was heading straight for Bay St. Louis, MS. 

That night, I had Grey Goose with cranberry juice and drowned my sorrows.  My mom told me that no matter what, I had to be happy.  I knew my relationship was toast, and knew I had to do something about it.  That night, Katrina strengthened to a Category 5 storm.

Click here for the scariest weather report I have ever seen. (It's Wikipedia, so you'll have to scroll down to "bulletin".)

Sunday morning I got up, turned on the weather, and evacuated with the rest of south Mississippi.  Dad and Rikki went to my grandmother's house in Philadelphia, MS. My mom headed into the hospital, being a nurse, because she was required to stay there in case of medical emergencies.  At the last minute she was sent home, and almost went to our house.  She most likely would have died there, or at the very best ended up being rescued from the roof.  Ultimately, she evacuated to my grandmother's house.

When I got back to Birmingham, I broke up with my live-in boyfriend within 1 minute of walking in the door.  By Monday, everything was gone.  

The power had gone out at my grandmother's house, so it was a day or so before my parents knew the extent of the devastation.  For several days, there were many family members that were unaccounted for.  They all survived.  

I cleaned out all the clothes and shoes from my closet that I thought anyone could use. I bought and filled up gas can after gas can so I could go to MS to see my family. My sister moved in with me for a month, a welcome reprieve from the loneliness I was feeling.  I took her shopping for clothes, but this time because she really didn't have any. My parents (and pretty much everyone else too) moved into a FEMA camper for a long year-I can't even imagine how difficult it was for them.  They filed their insurance (flood insurance bought only 2 months before the storm), sold their condemned house and property, and made their plans.

Mom & Dad and Tommy & Donna rebuilt their lives and began a new life in new homes-- with very different priorities than before. We made new memories.  I started dating Rob, then we were engaged and then married.  I defended my dissertation and earned my Ph.D. My little sister had a baby and got married. My dad took stock of his health and became a bodybuilder -- thus winning the prize of biggest physical transformation.Our family grew together, and I hope that we always will remember what's most important. We've all had multiple challenges along the way, and we have all dealt with them with the same brute force that was used for the Katrina aftermath. And here we are, stronger than before.