As the seasons change I can’t help but to reflect on life’s transitions. I myself am going through my own personal evolution. I am changing professions and the thought is exciting and frightening at the same time.
Nowhere is transition more evident than in New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita have both proven that no matter how prepared or not that you are no one can defend itself against nature. It’s not like the tsunami of 2004 where there really was no advance warning, here the world knew days before and still people were not prepared for the devastation and destruction.
The news cameras and media displayed the ugliness, anger, sadness and hopelessness in all its’ forms. I was awed at the raw emotion displayed by families who had loved ones and were unable to contact them and then the survivors who talked of the savage attacks in the superdome and appalled at the ineptitude of all the local and federal groups who were supposed to help.
The many people who sent food, money, and volunteers to the area to help soothed my heart. My friends and I wondered if we could go and do something. Our requests were answered in the form of Governor Granholm putting together an effort for volunteers from Michigan to come together and help.
When things happen around the world like famines, war, and catastrophic tragedies everybody seems to reach into their pockets or through various organizations to help. It was great to see people do that here without guilt but with love, genuine empathy and benevolence.
Many times I see people in our neighborhoods, community and our city that need help and people fundraise for their issues like cancer, diabetes, poverty, homelessness and heart disease. These are all great causes that affect everyone but the hurricane really only affected the people in that area where it hit.
So why do people have to help? Because people genuinely care and this time that help came right away before the telethons, the celebrity pleas and the Oprah Angels network. People touched others that they may have never known like the family that drove here from New Orleans in one SUV because the other vehicles that they drove were out of gas.
Sometimes life proves to you that there is goodness in the world even though there is much sadness and heartache. I want to say “Thank You” to everyone who sent money, volunteered, sent goods and even a prayer for the Hurricane survivors. This is what it means to lend a helping hand!
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