Heavy Downpours = Heavy Hearts

Have y'all been following the flooding in Nashville?  I could not believe my eyes when I saw the pictures?  I also could not believe my eyes when I saw MSN's webpage and found no links to more information on this this ever-developing disaster.  I was drawn to a post that was referenced two blogs of women living in Nashville (here and here) who were taking to the blogosphere to cry out for help.  Their pleas sounded so familiar and their pain did too. 

       I wanted to write yesterday since my post on fancy flowery perfumes no longer seemed important.  I remember in the days following Katrina I would see a man smile or a child laugh or hear a woman talking about something as trivial as perfume, and I envied them. I longed for the moment where I would feel that again.  A day where I could hear a joke and not want to cry because I couldn't find the will to laugh. A day where a simple conversation not filled with words like disaster, flood, storm, insurance had a place in my life.  But I was also angered by them.  How could they move on already from our story?  How could they forget that we are in so much pain?  How can they find the joy in chatting about perfume when over here we're dying inside?  And I felt terrible about not sharing the links to their stories, to their voice. 

      As I read the posts of these two women I related to their frustration in feeling like the government and the country has not yet moved to help, and that the media has placed preference on stories that are not their own.  I appreciate their courage and those like Wild and Precious for using their blogs to bring attention to this tragedy.  You can access this wonderful link HERE!!!! to see a comprehensive list of ways you can help.

PLEASE HELP! 

      The people of Nashville are in my every thought.  Seeing their photos makes me feel sick inside, because I wish our experience on no one else.  I hope for them that their journey to eventual peace and joy comes quickly.

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WARNING - FRUSTRATED NEW ORLEANIAN RANT

I also wanted to address the sense of sadness and frustration I felt when reading some of the comments to the posts I mentioned.  In relation to why New Orleans got help SO QUICKLY (which is a false statement if I've ever heard one) like this one "it's less of a 'glamour' story since Nashville was so nice to begin with!!!"  and why the media covered Katrina and not Nashville like this one "The thing that annoys me is that Katrina was bad and those people did get help. Everyone complained about the help and it turned into a big racial ordeal. I remember hearing, 'what if this were a white town, they'd get more help.' Well now we know this is simply not true!"

Now I don't know about you, but I'm just not sure degrading another city and it's people is the best solution to this crisis.  Am I just being petty (that's rhetorical!)? 

Tragedy and loss have no boundaries.  They know no color or creed.  They do not discriminate between rich and poor.  No person or place deserves to face this kind of loss more than another, just like no person or place deserves to face it without help more than another. 

Under the roof and inside the four walls of every house, condo, apartment, project is a place someone calls home.  In that space exists a life filled with memories that cannot be replaced no matter how hard you try or how much time has passed since they have been lost.  Whether you are rich and your walls are covered in silks or you are poor and your walls are patched up with duct tape, the lives and memories that exist between them share the same value.

And PS - New Orleans, while it has it's faults like any major US city, was NICE to BEGIN WITH!

Rant over.  Just as I think enough time has passed to let things like this slide off my back, I learn that it hasn't.  No more ranting, I promise.