FRIENDSHIP

Not to brag, but I have more good, true friends than I can shake a stick at. I have several best friends, Deborah and Rhett (sisters) Mel and Louise (college), Jane, (New Orleans and married to my best friend, KLB), Ms. Jackie ( Houma and Paris), Claudia, Becky, Jane, Susan, Lee, Jeanne, Catey (Sans Souci Sisters), Jill, MQC and Brenda (Work, Travel), Margaret and Janet (married to my buddies) Jeanne J. (we see the worst movies ever made), Kathleen and Mary (Book Club and much more), my work friends, and the list goes on and on. And the reason that I consider them true friends is that they are always there for me.

The best example I can give is what happened in 2005, namely Hurricane Katrina.  I was in Dallas with my sister, and John, my younger brother, called and said they were heading our way because of a potential "5" Hurricane.  We had not watched the news and didn't even know a storm was brewing.  We came home and my family arrived 24 hours later (yes, it took them all day to get to Baton Rouge (50 miles away) and then they slept in Lafayette that night).  My mother, her dog,  her caretaker, Liz and  her daughter, my sister Rhett, my brother John and his wife Missy, their 3 dogs and 1 bird.   Definitely the "Beverly Hillbillies"!  Evacuating from Louisiana is a way of life.  You gather a few things and then you go home 3 days later to clean out the refrigerator and freezer when you have lost electricity.  Only that did not happened.  My mom and my sister lost their homes and everything in it.  My brother and his wife had 6 inches of water in their brand new home and it had to be redone.

                                                   Neighborhood where Mom Lived.......

Long story, short.  My sister in law moved in (with the dogs and the bird) for 6 months.  My mom and her dog moved in with my sister, Deborah.  We got an apartment for the caretaker and her daughter and that's when the magic of friendship started.  Food appeared every night for months.  The apartment for Liz and Jasmine was completely furnished by our friends.  Clothes, money, groceries, dry goods all appeared.  One of my friends, Louise, was living in Rio, so she let my sister, Rhett, live in her home in West University.


I can never thank my friends enough for their generosity....Whenever I am feeling "blue" I still look at my Katrina list and marvel how everyone came to our rescue.  I have said it before, but to everyone who helped us in that awful time, I thank you again....Its good to have friends.

"Happiness, knowledge, not in another place but this place, not for another hour but this hour." --Walt Whitman