Sketches of New Orleans

These Photographs were taken 2 weeks prior to Katrina

Thanksgiving

This week will be 3 months since this fiasco started. Everything is good. Well almost everything.
I miss my family. I found out that the biggest thing that I lost during the past few months has been precious time with my family. I miss my Beautiful wife and my 3 children. I miss my Dog. I miss my Home. When a disaster like this happens I've learned that you go through stages.

First I was upset about all of the things that we lost in the storm. Things we can't ever get back. All of my childrens Disney Christmas ornaments; My wife's "ring bearers pillow" from our Wedding; Toys in Kindal and Ben's room that they will probably not miss but bring back precious Christmas morning memories for me; My wife's makeup; My Baby Girls blanket ; All of the furniture that my Mom left to me when she passed away a month prior to the storm. I could go on........but why. We will dearly miss all of these precious things.

And Then I got upset about all of the damage done to the City. I walked around in a daze. I can't believe that all of this pain and suffering is happening to our city. These things don't happen in the United States. We only see these things on the news. I walk for days and can't escape the poisonous waterlines on houses ; the blue tarps protecting homes from more damage ; thousands of refrigerators and appliances in front of every house; spray painted inventory lists on most houses ; abandoned flood marked cars everywhere ; the lack of artists and musicians in Jackson Square; Trees still on houses ; Again I could go on and on. You can take every disaster movie you've ever seen and multiply it by 100 times. You can't get over what you see, and you can't really explain it to anyone else. I love this city and my heart will always be here.....even if I can't be.

The third level of mourning came to me during this Thanksgiving. I came to New Orleans on this third trip to try and get work done on my house and to finalize some of the insurance stuff. I found myself here as thanksgiving approached. At the last minute when I realized I wouldn't make it home to Kristin and the Kids I decided to go to Tyler Texas to spend the holiday with my Uncle Ron and Aunt Twilla, My brother and sister Richard and Dena. It was a beautiful day and I was so lucky to have been able to spend it with My Aunt Twilla and Uncle Ron, Richard and Dena ...but as much as I enjoyed the holiday I felt a larger loss than anything else that was taken by the storm. This is the first time in 18 years of being with my wife that we haven't been together for Thanksgiving. This is the first time in 8 years that I've been away from m children during the holiday.This was the first time in 41 years that I haven't spent the holiday with at least one of my parents ( although this wasn't because of the storm ). I lost precious time with my family. I miss them and if I will be bitter about anything, it will be about the time I lost and will never get back. Don't get me wrong. It's been unavoidable. But It will leave a mark that will only serve to remind me of every little thing that was lost in this disaster. Something I can't explain to someone who hasn't been through it. Something that I will try to learn from. I will try to teach my kids from it.................... The most precious thing in life is the Love that you have for your family and the time you can spend with them. It's what memories are made of. The "things" that we lost in the storm are only reminders of those times and memories. I will never lose the memories but I can never get back the time that I lost with the ones that I love.

I remember November 16th 1963

I remember the problems that my Dad had remembering important dates every year. My Mom on the other hand never forgot. My Mom; She could remember every birthday, every anniversary, every important date for just about anyone she met. If on the rare occasion she couldn't remember, she had it written down in her notebook. Mom was so good at important dates that she had a file made up with the cards that she wanted to send people on thier special day. When she passed away we found several cards for the upcoming year already made out and ready to send. I know that she looked down from Heaven on those people when we gave them her cards. She knew when she saw the perfect card for a particular person and she bought it no matter how far off the event was. She would put it in a file dated a few days ahead in order to put it in the mail on time. She really cared about people and liked to make them feel special. My Mom was one of a kind.

Just as important to her was that people remember her special days. Not necessarily with gifts but just recognition. Don't get me wrong she like to be surprised on the morning of her birthday, Christmas, Valentines Day, Easter, her Wedding anniversary. She liked to open something even if it was just a card. But it was the thought that counted to her most.

The times that we forgot my Mom's birthday or anniversary have become comical stories in my family. But they weren't comical when they happened. Most of the time my Dad was the culprit. Just as my Mom was known for remembering, My Dad was legendary for forgetting. I won't get into the stories here because I don't have the space but suffice it to say he needed our help remembering most of the days my Mom found special. My Mom liked the feeling of being remembered and that's why she tried to remember everyone else. She wanted them to share that feeling.

That's why I write this with tears. This week , November 16th specifically, was my Mom and Dad's 42nd wedding anniversary. I am in New Orleans cleaning up after Hurricane Katrina and I forgot until today that thier anniversary was on Wednesday. I know Mom would have forgiven me, but at least she would be here to tell me so. I am generally good about remembering dates but I let this one pass. I love my Mom and Dad and the best way for me to honor them is to not forget thier important dates. I can feel my Mom and Dad looking down on me on every special occasion that Kristin , the Kids and I have. I will not forget hers just because she's not physically here.

I'll do better.

I love you Mom and Dad.

Tim :)

I am Thankful.

I would hope that in this Thanksgiving season we truly understand how lucky we all are. I don't just mean the people that were affected by the hurricane. I would hope that all can learn from what many have experienced. Hurricane Katrina, The Tsunami, World War 2, The holocaust, The Korean war, The Police action in Vietnam, The 2 Iraqi wars, The attack on the World Trade Centers. The genocides in Uganda, Somalia, Congo, Ethiopia, the Sudan, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Nigeria and Botswana, The war in Afghanistan, homeless Americans throughout our rich country, single mothers, depressed fathers, people that have no families, people who have life altering addictions, people that have cancer. We could fill volumes with ways that things could be so much worse for any one of us.

Take a look around you. If you have family, housing, bread to eat ,and are healthy. Thank whatever higher being that you believe in . If you had been born 100 years ago it would be normal for you not to have a lot of the things that we take for granted. Try living without a car, without air conditioning, without a computer or the internet, no cell phones, a lot less medication. Imagine living with the diseases that plagued us just 100 years ago. 100 years is just a little more than the average expected lifetime of a human being.

Forget all of the petty arguing. Be thankful that on August 29th, the day after hurricane, you weren't sleeping with your kids on I-10 in 98 degree weather and 100% humidity.

We have so much to be thankful for

I love my wife and kids.

Sittin' at the coffee shop on Metairie Road and taking in
some cool jazz horn.
Everything around me is buzzing cause everyones busy
rebuildin' after the storm.
I can smell the city as she gets back to the way she was:
Smooth curves of St Charles, long enticing notes of music coming
out of the Quarter, singing to all of us that missed her while she was gone.

With her Spanish eyes and French accent;
Irish temper and African mytery she sits in the Crescent of the
river and waits for us to be again seduced. The smells of boiled
Crawfish reaches out from every neighborhood to remind us that
she's there....waiting.

It's not New Orleans that left, it was us. She's been there all along
waiting patiently for us to return.

Oh light that has shined
on my life thus far
where do I go from here ?
What should I do at the
bump in the road ?
The end closes in ; I fear.

With each day that passes
the end doth draw near,
but the light sprouts forth
new seeds
that hold new gifts and
even answers to what
your soul doth need.

Oh what a shame it
would be to halt
at the bump that has impeded
your stroll , fore God has planned such
a beautiful path and your stumble is
part of the toll.