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September 2, 2006
Perspective
“You always have to compare things.” --Ingemar, My Life As A Dog
I was planning to re-post something I wrote on this day last year. That was the night my family dragged me away from the TV and the computer and made me go bowling to get my mind off the storm. I've reread it a few times and I always thought it was a pretty decent piece of writing, about where my head was at on the Friday after the storm, after a week of tracking down missing family and watching the flood unfold from 500 miles away.
And then I read this.
One year ago yesterday, Professor Homan, whose daughter goes to school with my daughter, was swimming from his home to his university to check on his students. Supported by an inflatable pillow, his name and next of kin address on a piece of paper in a plastic baggy on a string around his neck just in case. Passing several bodies along the way.
It's times like this that my contribution as a "blogger", as a New Orleans "ex-pat", seems so trivial and stupid.
Posted by ray at September 2, 2006 9:44 PM | Permalink
Categories: [blogging | katrina | new orleans ]
Comments
This is entirely irrelevant, but I'd completely forgotten about My Life as a Dog until you just quoted it. And it was one of my favorite movies in college! I may have to rent it.
I started writing a one-year update entry and it just sounded so lame I had to stop.
Posted by: Jette at September 2, 2006 11:06 PM
There can be no comparisons between the one-year retrospectives. Although one's experience of Katrina may not be as harrowing as another's, the common thread is that we all suffered and hurt for what happened. Everyone's perspective and story is meaningful.
Posted by: TravelingMermaid at September 3, 2006 10:44 AM
We've all gone through our own, at some point or the other. You've uprooted yourself and your family to return to a place worth fighting for. That wasn't easy. Similarly, Katrina wasn't the only truly defining moment of my life.
And I agree with you that "blogger" is so stupid and trivial until you DO something about what you write about. I'm sorry I was cross at you for your Work Day No Show email. We just have to spend more time making important things like that really work in the future.
It just shows that all of us have varying limits and that we reach them at different times.
Posted by: Maitri at September 5, 2006 5:26 PM
It matters a lot to some of us. It matters. What you went through is not forgotten by all.
Posted by: Devilbluedress at September 5, 2006 8:52 PM
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