Day Eight: Heading Home

It's almost 6 a.m. as I type in the dining tent here at Camp Algiers. The Tennessee Crowbar Krewe has worked hard for six days cleaning out seven houses. Now that we have made a small contribution to rebuilding after the worst natural disaster in American history, we are heading home. We'll take home sore muscles, some beads, and a lot of memories of this great American city and the beautiful people here.

Among the mountains of rubble hauled into the street this week I found two photo I.D. badges. Samantha Slack worked at New Orleans Christian Academy at 122 N. Dorgenois Street in the Ninth Ward with her husband and four children. Susan Alexander lived in a condo on Karen Street in New Orleans East. She worked on a cruise ship and owned a beautiful carved mahogany bed that by now is on its way to the Gentilly Landfill. I try to imagine these people we didn't meet but tried to help in some small way.

As we drive north from the Crescent City to our safe homes and comfortable beds, I hope that the scattered citizens of New Orleans will return, rebuild, and have a little more normalcy in their lives.