And so it goes ...

I just came from my daughter's blog and read her post entitled "Treading Water". Of course, it upset me but, you see, I agree with her. I am one of those people who try to handle everything that life may throw at them. Although my husband died six years before Katrina made landfall, I was still grieving. It was my only marriage. So for those six years, before we were to experience Katrina's fury and the depressing aftermath, I had gone through many prior trials. One could truthfully say that I was emotionally drained but still trying to take care of everything.

In the 15 months that have passed I went once to see a former office of ours in Gulfport and couldn't enter as the roof had collapsed. There were squirrels running in and out of the debris. I stood there with memories racing through my mind. All I could take with me were a couple of bricks as a momento of a lifetime spent there. As of this date, the bricks are still in my car. My late husband's grave is in Gulfport and December 3, 2005 is the last time I visited. Only a ritual, but just like the bricks it is a comforting thing to do. Traffic and fatalities are increasing on the interstate and I don't want to be one of the statistics.

I have seen first hand what my younger daughter has gone through since the storm. Her baby girl was 17 days old when the storm came ashore, now she is 15 months old and growing up in unsettled surroundings. All the children are but what else can she do? This past August she had a miscarriage and almost didn't survive ... but still she goes on.

Take for instance, everything that the people around the United States have donated to help us has never reached some of us as we do not qualify as "needy". It has nothing to do with need, like the two bricks, we all need something to hang on to. Just to let us know somebody cares. Just a few days ago bikers, most of them locals, roared in to Gulfport and brought toys for the needy children. Even though I could buy the toys, I wished I could bring all my younger grandchildren and have someone say, "This is for you"!

A daughter also lives in Gulfport and I seldom see her as she is busy running her office. Two other daughters live elsewhere and so that leaves me with the youngest. She trying to help me and Me trying to help her. And so it goes...