Through my old neighborhood

On Sunday afternoon, D.A. James and I went looking for sites in New Orleans where devastation occurred in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

We wanted see how recovery was coming along.

First we drove across the Garden District where I was delighted to find so much life on Magazine Street. Small clothing,  jewelry and furniture shops along with cafés, bars and restaurants line the street for blocks.

Then through Midtown, which since Katrina makes me fall silent. When we cross I-10, I look for those highway signs that played so prominently as film crews captured the stricken faces of the crowds stranded there waiting for rescue.

Lakeview, where I lived, is filled with people who are rebuilding their lives in a place they love. Fortification of the 17th Street Canal provides a measure of comfort.

On the jschooltravels trip in December 2005, I couldn’t make it to my old house — from 30 years ago! — but I realize now that we probably saw it from the bridge on Hammond Highway as we watched repairs on the breach in the canal wall.

On a personal trip in December of 2007, I managed to drive by but couldn’t find the house — a lot of them were missing.

But this day, I was determined so I rang the doorbell at a house that seemed familiar, but there was no answer so I left my card on the mailbox.

The next afternoon as drove out of the Lower Ninth Ward, my phone rang and in a distinct Cajun accent, the voice on the phone identified himself as the 5-year-old boy who my sister and I played with when we lived in his family’s upstairs apartment.

He told me nobody goes through the front door at his family’s home, but he had that day and found my card. More than that, he said he had been thinking of us a couple of months ago.

What are the odds?

We had a great little chat before he had to go. I hope to talk to him again. I’ve wanted to hear the family’s tale. Their home is immediately adjacent to the breach and most of their neighbors are gone as are their houses.

No doubt it is another tale of heartbreak and heroism.