Day #4, Bay St. Louis, September 11th, 2005

Sometimes it is the smallest things that hit me hardest...

I was tired when I got up today. But a few solid cups of Cathy Sessums coffee certainly brought me back from the dead! I stopped at Wal-mart on the way back to Bay St. Louis for a few items and noticed that even halfway back to Hattiesburg there are people living in parking lots.
There are 2 things I will never complain about again
1. There are not too many Wal-marts. Apparently when the storm had passed, Wal-mart opened it's doors in the affected areas and told people to take the things they needed. While some headed for the jewelry department ( can't account for idiots) most took the food and water they needed, nothing more. I will shop at Wal-mart more often I think.
2. There are not too many Starbucks! I no longer care if they are on every corner, in fact I now prefer that so that I can find good coffee whenever I want it.

I worked in the "tent" area today where we are doing the insurance equivalent of "triage" in a mash hospital. We try to sort out the worst cases from the lighter claims. We answer questions, we piece together parts of peoples lives. The claim reps working are so adept at the technology that I decided I would instead spend my day listening. I reminded myself that I have 2 ears and 1 mouth and decided to listen twice as hard as I ever have. I asked people questions about their lives, about their homes, pets, hurricane experience. While the general themes are similar, the details weave a tapestry that is very unique to each individual. I feel like I am creating a patchwork quilt in my memory of these people and their experiences in Katrina.

One couple told me about the farm they had...They built it themselves by hand, board by board. They had chickens, goats, dogs, rabbits...while the dogs are still with them, the remaining animals perished. He told me how he misses his goats the most....But they will rebuild, by hand, the house they planned to retire in. It will be hard, but they will make it work.
Another woman spoke to me about the "slab" she owns. It's all she has left. The storm surge took everything else. She did find 2 pieces of her grandmothers jewelry in the mud for which she feels lucky as so many have no items to treasure. She showed me both pieces of jewelry. After I wrote her a claim check, told her to save what receipts she may have, I offered to give her a plastic folder to hold her items in ( it's a 1.00 item at target) She remarked " This plastic folder is now my most prized possession...it's a place to keep the few things I have left." It was all I could do not to burst out in tears.


THOUGHT for the Day:
I am thankful today for many things. A wonderful husband, home, a job, friends, family, YOU, my dogs and cats, my Sisters in Phi Mu. After today I will not complain when I don't want to go to work, because I have a career that allows me to do the other things I love. I will not complain about the people who clean my house, because I am thankful I have a house to clean. I will not complain about how my husband's dog hogs the bed, because he is alive, well and living with us in safety as a part of out little tight knit family. I will not complain because I have too many Phi Mu things to do because when I needed sisters to help me help others the most, they were there. I will do what I can when I can. And when I have a disagreement with a sister, I am going to turn the other cheek because in the end all we really have is each other, like it or not. And it's always easier to be friends than to be enemies.

Thumbs up today to:
*Shellye who called me to wake me up at 7:30. I needed a wake up call!
*Cathy Sessums who continues to let me linger in her guest room and makes me food!
*Pam for this listserve which has been irreplaceable while I have been on the road. You have all kept my sanity.
* The state Farm claims people who are away from families for 30 days at a time to help these people try and recover lives that were swept out to sea...
* sleep that will overtake me at any moment. I'm tired in my bones.
* the Friday night poker game coming up.
* Sisterhood.

Thumbs down to:
* The 1.5 hour ride to and from Bay St. Louis each way each day.
* hurricane Ophelia...PLEASE do not come ashore on the east coast while I am away from my own office.

G'night....
Audrey