Memory.
No relief in sight.
Tuesday 08.30.05 at 1336 hours
My mom's house. Ma'Dear's house. The shotgun house she and my Uncle Bruce grew up in on 2626 Philip Street. Where my 80 year old grandmother, Ma'Dear, lived up until last year. Where I visited my mom through the ten years that she lived there after moving from Houston in 1992 only to move back in 2004. Propped up/elevated above the below sea level earth like many of the homes in New Orleans. Like the resting places of the city's dead...
[a pause. a breath. a smile.]
The smell of 2626 Philip Street. I didn't always like it. I didn't always like my grandmother's cookin' either, but I ate it anyways. She did cook some mean gumbo though. I'd eat that. Her cornbread was another story. [a breath.] There's a picture of all the women standing in front of a shotgun house that very well could have been 2626. My Auntie, my Great Aunt, my aunt Emma, others... all of 'em so bright, smiling, dressed all in white. I wonder where that picture is. I wonder if Uncle Bruce ever got around to packing up all of Ma'Dear's belongings, saving the pictures, clocks, and trinkets around the house.
All of my family is safe. My Uncle Bruce, his family along with Ma'Dear arrived in Houston late Sunday Night/Early Monday morning. And my Aunt Emma and Cousin Renee took shelter in Northern Lousiana after the I-10 traffic to Houston proved to be too bumper2bumper.
But the home. What of the home? It might be underwater or partially flooded by Hurricane Katrina. I want to be present with my mother and grandmother about, checkin in with them - support them through dealing with this loss. I'm a big sentimentalist and I know if something ever happened to 11306 Fawngrove, I'd be a mess.
[Remember Courage.]
In a very real way though, my mom's divorce from my father and leaving Fawngrove Street was loss of a home, but not of the memories - an almost 20 year marriage.
So their memories of 2626 Philip St, our memories can live on. I'd like to help see that happen.
Monday 08.29.05 circa 1300 hours...
Just got through briefly watching CNN’s Situation Room which is covering the effects of Hurricane Katrina. The TV guys were mostly talking about “what has happening and what will happen.” Lots of numbers and blopper radar images. Wolf Blizter was even “situated” in front of a large screen that showed multiple images of the hurricane catastrophe. Some of which I could identify with this hurricane (i.e., the Superdome roof tearing off) but others I could not (i.e., trees blowing, sunken cars in flooded streets, etc.).
While I was watching this, I thought about the 10,000+ folks in the superdome’s emergency shelter. What about their stories? I don’t really have the patience to watch the cable all day to come across this programming, but surely it has to be out there somewhere, right? Not just the TV guys reporting of what’s going on from their studios. Or not just sensationalistic stories with Anderson Cooper positioned 20 feet outside of his hotel describing how hard the wind is blowing. But that "human interest" story about the homes that folks left behind, the fear of the unknown, the pain of loss, a shared community/citywide experience that impacts folks differently, how ppl are coping, laughing, caring for each other, feeding each other.... the kinda stories that ppl can learn from, gain wisdom from, prepare to strengthen for the future...
Like the story of my family on my mom’s side (uncles, cousins, aunts) that all live in New Orleans and who will get to see my mom today. Though they traveled to Houston to take shelter from the storm, they’ll be able to see my mom who had been living in New Orleans for over ten years before she moved back to Houston last year. Surely these kinda stories have made it on the TV? Yes, what about all of these stories?
And what about all the other stories untold? May peace, love, light be with them.
Tuesday 08.30.05 at 1336 hours
My mom's house. Ma'Dear's house. The shotgun house she and my Uncle Bruce grew up in on 2626 Philip Street. Where my 80 year old grandmother, Ma'Dear, lived up until last year. Where I visited my mom through the ten years that she lived there after moving from Houston in 1992 only to move back in 2004. Propped up/elevated above the below sea level earth like many of the homes in New Orleans. Like the resting places of the city's dead...
[a pause. a breath. a smile.]
The smell of 2626 Philip Street. I didn't always like it. I didn't always like my grandmother's cookin' either, but I ate it anyways. She did cook some mean gumbo though. I'd eat that. Her cornbread was another story. [a breath.] There's a picture of all the women standing in front of a shotgun house that very well could have been 2626. My Auntie, my Great Aunt, my aunt Emma, others... all of 'em so bright, smiling, dressed all in white. I wonder where that picture is. I wonder if Uncle Bruce ever got around to packing up all of Ma'Dear's belongings, saving the pictures, clocks, and trinkets around the house.
All of my family is safe. My Uncle Bruce, his family along with Ma'Dear arrived in Houston late Sunday Night/Early Monday morning. And my Aunt Emma and Cousin Renee took shelter in Northern Lousiana after the I-10 traffic to Houston proved to be too bumper2bumper.
But the home. What of the home? It might be underwater or partially flooded by Hurricane Katrina. I want to be present with my mother and grandmother about, checkin in with them - support them through dealing with this loss. I'm a big sentimentalist and I know if something ever happened to 11306 Fawngrove, I'd be a mess.
[Remember Courage.]
In a very real way though, my mom's divorce from my father and leaving Fawngrove Street was loss of a home, but not of the memories - an almost 20 year marriage.
So their memories of 2626 Philip St, our memories can live on. I'd like to help see that happen.
Monday 08.29.05 circa 1300 hours...
Just got through briefly watching CNN’s Situation Room which is covering the effects of Hurricane Katrina. The TV guys were mostly talking about “what has happening and what will happen.” Lots of numbers and blopper radar images. Wolf Blizter was even “situated” in front of a large screen that showed multiple images of the hurricane catastrophe. Some of which I could identify with this hurricane (i.e., the Superdome roof tearing off) but others I could not (i.e., trees blowing, sunken cars in flooded streets, etc.).
While I was watching this, I thought about the 10,000+ folks in the superdome’s emergency shelter. What about their stories? I don’t really have the patience to watch the cable all day to come across this programming, but surely it has to be out there somewhere, right? Not just the TV guys reporting of what’s going on from their studios. Or not just sensationalistic stories with Anderson Cooper positioned 20 feet outside of his hotel describing how hard the wind is blowing. But that "human interest" story about the homes that folks left behind, the fear of the unknown, the pain of loss, a shared community/citywide experience that impacts folks differently, how ppl are coping, laughing, caring for each other, feeding each other.... the kinda stories that ppl can learn from, gain wisdom from, prepare to strengthen for the future...
Like the story of my family on my mom’s side (uncles, cousins, aunts) that all live in New Orleans and who will get to see my mom today. Though they traveled to Houston to take shelter from the storm, they’ll be able to see my mom who had been living in New Orleans for over ten years before she moved back to Houston last year. Surely these kinda stories have made it on the TV? Yes, what about all of these stories?
And what about all the other stories untold? May peace, love, light be with them.
posted by Andre Lancaster at
12:58 PM
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