I was Going Home Rewrite
February 6th 2010 12:52
The man-made markings from 2005, made by people who searched New Orleans’ homes for survivors, were still on the sides of houses in 2009. Those markings, x and 0 or another number, indicated how many people, if any, had been found dead inside the house. I didn't expect to see them, especially on the public library. (And I didn’t understand why those markings would be on the side of a public library). I was on a train in September 2005 when I saw the flooded houses for the first time without a television. In 2009, I could walk up to the houses with the markings or see them from porch of the friend’s house that I was visiting with my sister. It was 2010 and the effect was as strong as it was in 2005.
A drive into Metairie with my sister and our friends made me feel like a tourist and it was the oddest feeling to no longer be home in a place you grew up and hung out in. I lived on the West Bank, which was across the Crescent City Bridge from New Orleans and most Sundays, mom and I would hang out in our favorite bookstore where we'd be greeted. Barnes and Noble had a different feel, like it someone else's to enjoy, no longer mine. I didn’t recognize any of the employees in the Barnes and Nobles on the West Bank and I didn’t see the woman who hosted the poetry readings that I participated. The security didn’t say hello because he didn’t know me on this visit to the large bookstore.
The true change was when my sister and I met our mom in New Orleans in 2009. We stayed in a hotel and had some great Nawlins cuisine at the Court of Two Sisters, Nola and The French Quarter Festival. It was my sister's first time at the French Quarter Festival, which was something neither mom or I knew. The event is a free to get in and the food samples are fairly inexpensive and a little large than sample portions and are always delicious.
. There weren't any reminders of Hurricane Katrina in the French Quarter or the Central Business District. Tourists and natives enjoyed oysters, hurricane daiquiris, the shopping and the city herself.
On the second to last day of our visit, I went to mass with my mom and my sister. I sat in the pew and realized that New Orleans wasn’t home anymore. I came home as a tourist and even touring the west bank where I grew up felt like I was in someone else’s city. I didn’t cry, but I did come to the conclusion that it was time to move on, time to completely move into Atlanta GA, where I lived since 2008 with my sister and perhaps make that my new home.
A drive into Metairie with my sister and our friends made me feel like a tourist and it was the oddest feeling to no longer be home in a place you grew up and hung out in. I lived on the West Bank, which was across the Crescent City Bridge from New Orleans and most Sundays, mom and I would hang out in our favorite bookstore where we'd be greeted. Barnes and Noble had a different feel, like it someone else's to enjoy, no longer mine. I didn’t recognize any of the employees in the Barnes and Nobles on the West Bank and I didn’t see the woman who hosted the poetry readings that I participated. The security didn’t say hello because he didn’t know me on this visit to the large bookstore.
The true change was when my sister and I met our mom in New Orleans in 2009. We stayed in a hotel and had some great Nawlins cuisine at the Court of Two Sisters, Nola and The French Quarter Festival. It was my sister's first time at the French Quarter Festival, which was something neither mom or I knew. The event is a free to get in and the food samples are fairly inexpensive and a little large than sample portions and are always delicious.
. There weren't any reminders of Hurricane Katrina in the French Quarter or the Central Business District. Tourists and natives enjoyed oysters, hurricane daiquiris, the shopping and the city herself.
On the second to last day of our visit, I went to mass with my mom and my sister. I sat in the pew and realized that New Orleans wasn’t home anymore. I came home as a tourist and even touring the west bank where I grew up felt like I was in someone else’s city. I didn’t cry, but I did come to the conclusion that it was time to move on, time to completely move into Atlanta GA, where I lived since 2008 with my sister and perhaps make that my new home.
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