An Excerpt from “We were Baptized when the Levees Broke”

“From the outside looking in, New Orleans seems to have been rebuilt stronger than it was before. But, those who lived in and loved the Crescent City before Hurricane Katrina know that, though her spirit is still very much so alive, the city herself is much different. Years are no longer used as descriptions; time is instead broken into “pre-Katrina” and “post-Katrina.” Hurricane warnings are taken much more seriously, a solemn hush falling over the city as we watch with baited breath for each new storm to take another path. And, in the most abandoned parts of town, in the areas that never grew back with life though the wildflowers did, the X’s painted on the fronts of houses by rescuers to keep track of the deaths and occupants of each home still remain, serving as a reminder that Death struck our city once and it has the ability to do so again.”