We took the Chalmette Ferry back from Daniell’s house the other night. Messing around with the Phone Camera and taking pictures while we were waiting for the ferry, a man out of his car for a smoke pointed out a nutria swimming in the river. Then we started to chat.
Before Katrina, Wes had lived in Chalmette since 1968. Now he lives in Algiers. He’s in construction and came back to the city to help rebuild. But, he’s not convinced that the city will come back. This made me sad.
He told us a story about an elderly woman in Lakeview. A week before Katrina her doctor had told her to buy an air mattress, which she did. It was the mattress that saved her life. When they rescued her neighbors, they insisted on going by the lady’s house to see if she had made it out OK. They somehow got into the house, and there she was. Two feet below the ceiling, floating on her air mattress and praying. She said that she had made her peace with God, but she was thankful that she had been rescued.
Wes gave us the number of a doctor who went back to Chalmette as soon as they let people back in. This was probably about two weeks after Katrina when all of the water had been drained. He set up his office in a trailer and started to administer service.
Wes said that he hadn’t heard of any of these stories. He only heard and read about the horrible things…the looting, the murders. He craved the good stories. I hope we can help him with that.
