By Julie E. Schwartz, Guest Commentary, Silverthorne
For the past several days we New Orleans evacuees have been fixated on the question, “What did we lose?” The answers are grim.
Some lost their lives, literally dying because they did not receive medical attention, because there was no insulin, or no water, or no food, or because they stayed in their homes and died of exposure on their rooftops or drowned trying to swim to safety.
Others lost every material thing they owned, their houses and cars, furniture and TV sets, clothing, letters, photographs, football cards and scrapbooks, and all of the financial records that would have proved to the insurance company what they had lost.
Of those who were evacuated, some lost touch with relatives who were taken to other cities.
Many – and I am a member of this group – lost their jobs, finding themselves suddenly unemployed without proof of their abilities or experience.
Children lost not only their belongings, but their schools, their teachers and, most importantly, their friends with whom they played ball, studied, hung out and invited over. These friends are now scattered throughout the country, enrolled in schools wherever their parents landed.
We New Orleanians have lost our former lives. Even if we could recover every material thing that we owned, our lives will not be the same.
The other night, I heard someone say on the news, “There is no silver lining.” But even as the deaths mount and the tales of suffering and despair multiply, I know that it is not true.
Just this morning There was a report on National Public Radio that Congress might reject the next series of planned tax cuts as well as intended budget cuts to Medicaid and other services designed to help the poor. It is also considering a raise in the minimum wage, which has not been raised in eight years.
If the only result of the images of Katrina victims was to awaken Congress and this administration to the needs of America’s growing underclass, it might be considered a silver lining, but there are other positive aspects to this disaster.
The outpouring of generosity and concern demonstrates once again the heart and resilience of this country. Every offer of assistance, every phone call, every thoughtful act, makes this country a better place to live.
When my family first evacuated, the closest hotel we found that would take us and our dog was in Tyler, Texas. We stayed there from Saturday night until Tuesday morning, when we saw the flooded streets of New Orleans and realized we would not be going home anytime soon.
By Monday,The hotel guests who had evacuated from the Gulf Coast already knew they had lost their homes and belongings. The hotel did what it could to make the time there a treat. It held a free pizza party in the lobby. It hired balloon blowers to make balloon animals for the young children. And, even before the storm had passed, Red Cross volunteers from the Tyler area were organizing to head for devastated areas.
People I know – and thousands I don’t know – have opened their homes to take in total strangers or have given Katrina’s victims clothes from their own closets.
My family, which had the good fortune to land in Summit County, has been welcomed to our new home by the best friends and neighbors anyone could hope for. We have literally been offered anything we need.
Perhaps the best news for New Orleanians is that engineers are already drawing up plans and brainstorming ideas to prevent our inundated city from ever suffering this type of tragedy again.
In order to move on, we need to know there is a silver lining. During the difficult times ahead, we must all strive to see it.
Julie E. Schwartz was the editor of The Jewish News, a bi-monthly newspaper in New Orleans. She is now living in Summit County.
