9/8/05

Re: My sister's "guest" count: only 8 extra today

Son-in-law's parents and grandmother drove to Houston today
and left very early. They left his dad's truck here -- my
sister's driveway looks like a used car lot!!

Other departures today: my daughter's aunt, uncle,
grandmother, the cat ("Stella") that survived in
grandmother's garage until yesterday, and their dog, "Elroy".
They went to Hattiesburg, MS to another relative's home for
the week end. Grandmother, Stella and Elroy will stay there
for a while. Aunt and uncle will return here Sunday night.

New arrivals: My sister's daughter, husband and 1 year old
son will spend the week end.

Some of those here at my sister's are from Plaquemines
Parish. I was living in lower Plaquemines Parish (Buras, LA)
for Hurricane Camille in 1969... we lost EVERYTHING.

A fun "Care package" arrived today from one of my sisters.

My Louisisna sister's neighbor baked a cake and brought it
this evening.

Somebody forwarded this to me today:

 From columnist Chris Rose
of The Times-Picayune www.nola.com 

Dear America, 

I suppose we should introduce ourselves: We're South
Louisiana. We have arrived on your doorstep on short notice
and we apologize for that, but we never were much for waiting
around for invitations. We're not much on formalities like
that.

And we might be staying around your town for a while,
enrolling in your schools and looking for jobs, so we wanted
to tell you a few things about us. We know you didn't ask for
this and neither did we, so we're just going to have to make
the best of it.

First of all, we thank you. For your money, your water, your
food, your prayers, your boats and buses and the men and
women of your National Guards, fire departments, hospitals
and everyone else who has come to our rescue. We're a
fiercely proud and independent people, and we don't cotton
much to outside interference, but we're not ashamed to accept
help when we need it. And right now, we need it.

Just don't get carried away. For instance, once we get around
to fishing again, don't try to tell us what kind of lures
work best in your waters.

We're not going to listen. We're stubborn that way. You
probably already know that we talk funny and listen to
strange music and eat things you'd probably hire an
exterminator to get out of your yard. We dance even if
there's no radio. We drink at funerals. We talk too much and
laugh too loud and live too large and, frankly, we're
suspicious of others who don't.

But we'll try not to judge you while we're in your town.
Everybody loves their home, we know that. But we love South
Louisiana with a ferocity that borders on the pathological.
Sometimes we bury our dead in LSU sweatshirts.

Often we don't make sense. You may wonder why, for instance -
if we could only carry one small bag of belongings with us on
our journey to your state - why in God's name did we bring a
pair of shrimp boots? We can't really explain that. It is
what it is. You've probably heard that many of us stayed
behind. As bad as it is, many of us cannot fathom a life
outside of our border, out in that place we call Elsewhere.

The only way you could understand that is if you have been
there, and so many of you have. So you realize that when you
strip away all the craziness and bars and parades and music
and architecture and all that hooey, really, the best thing
about where we come from is us. 

We are what made this place a national treasure. We're good
people. And don't be afraid to ask us how to pronounce our
names. It happens all the time.

When you meet us now and you look into our eyes, you will see
the saddest story ever told. Our hearts are broken into a
thousand pieces. But don't pity us. We're gonna make it.
We're resilient. After all, we've been rooting for the Saints
for 35 years. That's got to count for something.

OK, maybe something else you should know is that we make
jokes at inappropriate times. 

But what the hell.

And one more thing: In our part of the country, we're used to
having visitors. It's our way of life.

So when all this is over and we move back home, we will repay
to you the hospitality and generosity of spirit you offer to
us in this season of our despair.

That is our promise. That is our faith.


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