Trouble the Water

I know I said a few days ago that I would need distractions from New Orleans in the next couple of weeks.  Last night I watched a documentary on Katrina, yeah, not such a great distraction, but an amazing documentary none the less.

As much as I miss it there.  As much as Brian Girton's pictures of creole food at Jacques-Imo's makes my heart ache.  As much as seeing pictures of work sites, po boys at Mother's, Pastor Luter and FABC, makes me feel a little bit empty...  I'm happy to be reminded that I had the chance.  That I was there, that I made new friends, I made a woman smile who hadn't had the capability in years.  I danced to those brass bands, I wiped away tears, I saw a city who had so much hope after such tragedy.  Who hadn't given up, when their government had, 5 years later.  I'm reminded of the positivity that resonated everywhere I went.  This city was beaten down to an extent that you didn't even see in a documentary as raw as Trouble the Water, I wish I could make you feel the life they ignited in me.  I think that's what I miss, how alive, how happy, how positive, how amazing these people I came to help, ended up making me feel.  

However instead of making it drag me down, I'm going to remember that feeling I had in New Orleans and I'm going to remember what I told myself when I left there last year.  I will carry it on in my day to day.  I'm sad because I can't take a trip to Nola, they were sad because they lost everything they knew.  I will find peace in the fact that we still are making trips down south to love on people that need it the most.  I'll be sure to make the trip next year, to be a part of something way bigger than me...

.painted on the side of a home in the lower 9th.