Re: Update
- From: mlbriggs <mlbriggs@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 04 Sep 2005 00:17:23 +0000
On Sat, 03 Sep 2005 23:55:35 +0000, mlbriggs wrote:
> On Sat, 03 Sep 2005 17:34:44 -0500, CatNipped wrote:
>
>> OK, this is long and rambling and, I'm sure, more than a little whiney -
>> so you don't have to read it, but I have to write it. Trolls, have at
>> it because I'm posting this one update and then leaving again, so say
>> what you like!
>>
>> I'm in my office taking a quick break from the chaos and hoping nobody
>> finds MaMere for a while (too late, the youngest has already barged in
>> to tattle on her sister! ;>).
>>
>> First, I would like you to know how proud I am of our adoptive city!
>> People here in Houston have been *SO EXTREMELY GENEROUS* in donations of
>> food and clothing that it's hard to believe. I heard a news item that
>> said when the Astrodome filled to capacity, over 500 Houstonians showed
>> up offering to open their homes to the refugees. Because of the
>> donations of clothes through charities and the children's new schools
>> (one teacher even gave my daughter a gift card from Target for $50!!!),
>> my granddaughters now have enough clothes to attend school in and the
>> adults have at least 5 changes of clothing.
>>
>> We're finally getting *some* order here; although we're still walking
>> over piles of donated clothing that needs to be sorted - anything that
>> doesn't fit gets sent on to other charities for Katrina victims.
>>
>> I've had to box and put away, in the attic or the crawlspace under the
>> stairs, *everything* that was purely decorative or that we're not
>> immediately using (winter sweaters, coats, etc.) We have to make room
>> in closets and chest-of-drawers for clothes for 7 extra people in the
>> house and we had to squeeze in three donated bed frames, box springs,
>> and mattresses in every spare square inch of floor space. We also
>> needed to make room on countertops and tables to prepare food three
>> times a day for 9 people (I don't know how people with large families do
>> it!!!)
>>
>> We had to buy utility shelving to put in the kitchen to *hold* all the
>> food needed for 9 people since we only have a tiny pantry (but thank God
>> we *have* the food - one church alone gave us a whole truck-bed full of
>> groceries and personal items)*1*.
>>
>> *1* I really hated taking charity for my relatives that may be needed
>> elsewhere, but Ben and I have had *SO* many financial set-backs in the
>> last 3 years that we've been living close to the edge for a long time
>> now.
>> We really can't support 7 extra people who don't have *ANYTHING* left
>> except the clothes on their backs.
>>
>> 9 people taking baths, washing clothes, washing dishes, etc. is going to
>> send our utility bills sky-high; and we're going through a box of cereal
>> and more than a gallon of milk a day for breakfast alone!! So, we
>> swallowed our pride and took the hand extended to us in love and
>> generosity and are very grateful that it was there for us.
>>
>> Well, the house now officially looks like an evacuation shelter and will
>> for at *least* three months (they're estimating it will take 80 days to
>> completely drain out the water from St. Bernard before they even allow
>> people to go in to assess the damage to their homes - add another 3 or 4
>> months - at least - of repair time before the houses are livable again
>> and we figure we're going to have 7 houseguests for anywhere from 6 to 9
>> months or more).
>>
>> I'm worried about my granddaughters. The two youngest, 6 and 11, should
>> be OK as they are both very active and gregarious - they've already made
>> friends in school and in the neighborhood. But how OK can they really
>> be when they've lost their home, their pets, their friends -
>> *EVERYTHING*!!
>>
>> Of more concern to me is the 13-year-old. She's old enough to
>> understand, a little, the magnitude of this catastrophe and how it has
>> forever changed her life, but she's still seen as "too little" to sit in
>> on the adult's talk about the tragedy. This leaves her dangerously
>> isolated and trying to resolve what she's feeling on her own. So,
>> although she appears to be handling it well, I still worry about her a
>> lot. I'm trying to sit and talk to her often, but she doesn't really
>> open up.
>>
>> She's very, very shy and the only thing that brought her out of herself
>> was her music. However, the 11-year-old's clarinet and the
>> 13-year-old's trumpet is now under 25 feet of water 300+ miles away!!
>> We tried the pawn shops to see if we could find a second-hand trumpet,
>> but even at the pawn shop they wanted $600 (I know, outrageous, I had to
>> buy *TWO* for my daughter when she was little - the first got run over
>> by a truck while she was waiting for the school bus). So, if anyone
>> knows where we could get a cheap, second-hand trumpet, please let me
>> know.
>>
>> But, of course, most worrisome of all is my missing relatives - my
>> brother, his wife, their three daughters, and their husbands and
>> children.
>> So, despite my bitching about my wrecked house and frazzled nerves, I'm
>> still glad my children and grandchildren are safe! We've heard from
>> some friends from St. Bernard that the reason they're not announcing the
>> death toll is because they won't be able to find all the bodies of all
>> the people trapped in their attics and drowned until after the water
>> goes down - but the unofficial death toll is estimated at greater than
>> 10,000 people.
>>
>> One positive note is that the enormity of this tragedy has been like a
>> slap in the face to me wrenching me out of my depression (which seems
>> petty and self-centered in light of what other people are going through
>> right now). The new prescription the doctor gave me, Flexeril, isn't
>> helping the Fibromyalgia, so that was a disappointment - but maybe it
>> just takes time to start working well. But, again, all that seems too
>> petty to bother with now.
>>
>> Please, keep the prayers and purrs coming for my family to be found
>> safe!
>>
>> Hugs,
>
>
> We are most certainly purrring for your and your family and , of course,
> all the victims of Katrina. I have send a contribution to the Houston
> SPCA and Red Cross. Hope everyone else does too. Mother Nature is not
> being kind in this case. Best wishes for good luck to come your way.
> Please keep us posted. MLB
I was just checking the web site of the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald
Tenn. There was a news release from the Houston SPCA
http://www.elephants.com/pr/LousianaSPCA_9_2_.05 htm
telling how they are rescuing animals there. ..MLB
.
- References:
- Update
- From: CatNipped
- Re: Update
- From: mlbriggs
- Update
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