My dear friend Mary Kay Deen, who now infuses heaven and earth with her light, had a favorite saying for young people graduating from the Starfish Café training program: “The hardest day of a butterfly’s life is the day it kisses the caterpillar good-bye.” Maybe this day, this tenth anniversary of Katrina, is the day…
As I have been with friends this anniversary week and as I have remembered, again deep gratitude washes over me for all the grace we received after Katrina. People prayed, sent gifts, came to help. Just today I learned that the Mennonites and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance are finishing repairs on a friend’s house that were…
Sitting next to the Courthouse Road pier in Gulfport this morning, drinking coffee and drinking in the soft sounds of lapping waves, I savored the quiet. No roar this morning. A few gulls almost still. Dolphins surfacing very near. Then a school of fish jumped, creating brilliant silver white images in the air. No little…
As we journey through this week of the tenth anniversary of Katrina, we are seeing many reminders in the media and all around us. Some of our feelings this week may be expressed more freely with color and shapes than with words. If that is true for you, I invite you to try creating mandalas.…
Telling our stories is one of the most healing processes after any trauma. Whether you lost your home and treasures in Katrina, lost nothing and have survivor’s guilt, went to the Gulf coast on work trips, you are a Katrina survivor, and journaling is one of the most healing ways you can tell your story.…
The waves on the Ross Barnett Reservoir where I live were gently rolling and dimpling this morning, just enough for the inspiration of wind and water. And yet what I saw in them was images of the roaring water that took our homes and our treasures and some of our lives ten years ago…
For all who have ever helped disaster survivors anywhere, please accept my deep gratitude for what you have done in the form of this poem I wrote for those who had come to help us. Like Magi, You Have Come . . . Sandra Lynn Price Written on the first anniversary of Katrina, published in…
When disaster strikes, concerned people everywhere want to help. Those nearby want to go immediately, chainsaws in hand, garbage bags in hand. It is a wonderful impulse. Sometimes the community can use help immediately; sometimes they need a few days to finish Search and Rescue and to get organized with work orders so that your…
The first days after a disaster are filled with chaos and discovery after discovery of what we and our neighbors have lost. It is common to be confused, have a hard time making decisions, and wonder what to do. As one who has been there, I offer these first essential actions. In later blogs I…
