o Bring Us Home traveled through Louisiana by bus and bicycle between October 24 and November 6, 2009 In a run much shortened from our original plan, we listened to the stories of the residents as they related to the Hurricane Katrina disaster. I hope the word of the project will spread so that I may hear from more of those “refugees” who have not yet returned home to New Orleans. It is all of these stories that will come to life in a book entitled To Bring Us Home, to remind the nation of how far we have yet to go as we approach the 5th anniversary of Katrina making landfall on August 29, 2005.
Pain comes in all strengths and sizes. During our 2 weeks on the road, and well before that, our director Jon has been experiencing various degrees of pain from certain issues that have dogged him relentlessly, only easing long enough to let him appreciate what Normal is. This is crippling, annoying, tiring, and frustrating pain. Ask Jon for the definition of pain, and he will smile, and wonder where to begin.
As I type this, my left leg is giving me a reminder that I’ve done 149 miles on the bike in 2 days, and that I didn’t work out enough before I hit the road for Louisiana. This is a fleeting, temporary message, and we can choose to take heed, and address the cause, or tough it out, hoping it will pass soon. We try to move on, and forget it.
Heartbreak. Books have been written about how best to face this demon that can bury us alive in anguish, depression, sorrow, and self pity. Suffering of a magnitude unmeasured tears at so many of us who hurt so deeply within our ravaged hearts that some never find their way to love again. Crushing, terrible hurt.
Some feel all three types of pain I’ve listed, and at once. It lingers, and circles around. It dives deep, and grabs hold. It annoys and reminds us when we don’t expect it. It lives at different levels in our lives, and never really moves on. This is the pain felt by those who have lost their homes, and feel they’ll never find that comfortable place again. Many from New Orleans carry this array of pain, wherever they may now live. Every day, they carry on, quietly and carefully, so as not to stir the embers. It’s time to listen. They will help us learn how not to let this happen again.
This morning brought us the KALB TV (NBC) interview, which went extremely well. This aired today at noon, 6, and 11. (The link to this is on the Press page).They gave us 3 minutes of air time, and we were so thankful that the word of what we are doing is being passed over the airwaves here! Of course, the moms have been emailing everyone they can in their known universe, and then some. We are here in New Roads for the night, 83 miles later on the bike. Nola chugged along well, after an early morning fix to keep a battery cable from burning up and knocking out our onboard power. We had a beautiful, warm sunny clear day that carried me right along on the bike, and even had one man come up to us who recognized me from the TV broadcast, and wanted to donate money to the cause! The crew was all smiles at the end of the day, as for the first time we accomplished what we set out to do in our plan for the day. We can feel the momentum gaining a foothold, and the months ahead will bring the stories to us, we’re sure. Thursday and Friday will mean 66 and 82 mile days on the bike, with our schedule shortened to just 3 days to complete the 231 miles from Alexandria. but I’ll make it, and the team will roll on into LSU’s main campus in Baton Rouge while I skirt the city to cover ground more easily. People are becoming aware of us now, and we are starting to feel To Bring Us Home can help make a difference after a stutter start. Our successes are theirs, in the long run. Running on past Baton Rouge Thursday! “I feel really good about today,” Jon says. Yes, we do!