The Invisible

One of the things that had the biggest impact on me while I was in Waveland was actually very simple. But I think it's funny how those simple, basic things are often the most vital bits you need for life and yet you totally over look.

We met a woman, Janet, who is just now getting her house built back. Before Katrina I think her family had a house there for atleast 50 years. They had passed their land down for several generations. She's less than 200 yards from the beach front and was planning to stay through Katrina like she'd done with other storms, until it was moved up to a category 5 storm. She evacuated to Florida, and after the storm passed and the waters went down came back to live in a tent on her land. She said that with all the debris, it was basically like taking a tent to a landfill and living there. She came back to no house, no job, she'd lost friends, neighbors...then there was the long process of trying to locate people who left.

So in all of the stories she told us about her life through and after the hurricane, a couple things struck me most. The first was her attitude about work. After the storm, she hadn't even really thought about working yet. A woman drove by and stopped by Janet's land and asked if anyone needed a job. At that moment it hit her that she had no job anymore. So she quickly jumped at the chance to work. She became part of the cleanup crew for her town. I can't imagine already having to face going through all the debris of my own home, but also having to go through everyone else's. But she said something that really changed me. She said she was grateful for the job not just because it was work, but it gave her the chance to be part of the solution. She said after the storm she learned to be grateful for what she is able to do, anything that she could do herself, she wants to do because she knows its such a gift. I'd say before I met her, I had an attitude much like she said she did before Katrina. There are a lot of things I could do myself but I'd rather let someone else do for me because it would take more effort for me than them.

Janet also told us about coming back to a place where there was nothing left but debris. When you go through a disaster like Katrina, she said you learn what's really important. It's fire and water, plants and animals, friends and family. And it's the invisible things that hold them together. It's love and the like that are unseen but most important. And it's the invisible that no one and nothing in this world can take away. Often people would say that as much as Katrina took away, it gave back so much more because they appreciate that now. I'm starting to see it too...