Wow, I can't believe it has been four years since Katrina poured through this once thriving and beautiful city. I have such fond memories of my childhood vacations spent with my friends and relatives in the 7th ward. Many of you know I'm a Jersey girl who married and lived in New Orleans for many, many years. I've spent most of my adult life in New Orleans and only moved away about 9 years ago to Dallas. I've gone back many times over the years still keeping ties and friendships in tact. As many other expatriates did I returned a few months after Katrina to view my families property and to attend the funeral of another lost relative. I hadn't looked at these pictures of the homes and the neighbors and friends I saw during that visit for quite a while. When I realized we were approaching another August I felt compelled to look through my files and to share some of my personal thoughts and photos.
It's bittersweet looking at this stuff and realizing that while the area is cleaner and slowly repopulating its needs are still great and unresolved. For so many of its residents the quagmire only grows after all this time. This August was the four year anniversary of Katrina if any body out there outside of the Big Easy is still counting; what with health care reform, the still looming war in Iraq and now severe economic upset here and abroad. It's enough to make our government forget that one of the most important and culturally influential cities founded is still floundering and gasping for breath. No this is not a critique of my beloved adopted hometown but rather a polite mention that it still needs some of the attention it was promised but never fully received. For those who love it and this country we know that more could have been done..and we're still waiting.
