Katrina Part 3

Katrina part3

August 29, 2010 at 4:24pm

So I pick up my story at the sugar shack...We rented it the Wednesday after the storm. It came fully furnished. We loved that little house. My husband and I didn't have cable so I got into the trashy mags.

We finnally find Miss Christina, she went to a special needs shelter in Mandeville, LA. We have limited comunication with her. She could call my parents in Pennsylvania easier than she could call us. She wants Dennis to come get her.

This is were things start to get very hard for my husband. She had to go into the hospital for some internal bleeding and I am put on bed rest.

I tell my husband that I am not going back to live with his mother again...I just can't go back....Why you might ask!?!

Well right before my baby shower when I am about 6 months pregnant, I went over our finances and tried to talk to Miss Christina about how things would be once I stopped working to have the baby (just maternity leave). I was not being ugly at all but she got very defensive instantly. The house was paid for and we were giving her $400+ we renovated the hall bath for $7000+ we paid half of the insurances on the house+ we bought all landry detergent and toilet paper+ we had our own bills. I wanted to maybe split the bills 50/50 so Dennis and I didn't pay for more than 90% of all house hold bills....She got dramatic...Hand to the head, "Oh you make it sound like I'm taking advantage of my own son."

I try to talk to her and then she got a bit indignant...She told me..."Look where else are you going to live for $400 a month? You know in this day and age you can go back to work and I will watch the infant."

I got upset with her at this point....We paid for a lot of things in that house...New bathroom...new refregerator...new dishwasher...this was the most expensive $400 a month that I ever heard of. So much goes through your mind in an instant when you get upset. I was completely hurt and felt betrayed. I felt totally taken advantage of. I told her, " I don't apreciate that we pay all the bills and you take Waldo (her alcoholic boyfriend of 20 plus years) to the bar everyday. You pick him up. You make him dinner. You tuck him in at night."

She replied with her chin picked up, "Yes I do...humph...and if you don't like it you can leave."

This whole conversation, believe it or not was not heated..It was actually pretty icy.

That night I begged Dennis to leave. I didn't speak to Miss Christina for about 2 weeks after that. I was utterly terified to have my baby there. I felt like a pregnant Cinderella. I was the only one who really cleaned. I was very depressed.

Miss Christina apologized to me. She didn't do or say anything about the situation though. Waldo was still a falling down drunk 3-4 days a week. I felt that it was an empty apology. It changed nothing. Everything was still the same. I was still terified of my future and my baby's.

Then once the storm hit.. I felt in competion with Miss Christina. Who was Dennis going to pick me or his mother.

Dennis chose me at every turn. He stuck by my side and helped me with my shoes and my panties. He cooked, he cleaned. He was all that I could have asked for and more. We clung to each other like never before.

He tried to help his mother from afar. He did go back into Metairie when they said you could go back to assess damages, but not to live. He cleaned out the fridge and freezer. He patched a whole in the roof, and after 6 weeks or something like that he found our family pet still alive. Josie was a mess. She was a about 13 years old and a yorkie. She was the happiest and most pethetic little thing you ever saw. Dennis brought her back with him. We took her to the groomer the next day because i was afraid to touch her. She was not the same dog at all. She had always been very self assured. Before Katrina, she would only come to you for attention when she wanted it. After the storm she was very timid and clingy. She had to be on you all the time. If we left to go to an appt. or the store she had such bad anxiety that she would start passing blood. She now had to sleep with you. The poor little dog broke my heart.

The shelter that Miss Christina stayed at was a High School and they were going to reopen. They were going to relocate everyone to another shelter or they had to leave. So about a week before they let everyone back in, Miss Christina and Waldo went back to the house to live. Dennis took the dog back to her.

The house had roof damage, the garage took flood water, and her bed room window had been blown out so we had wind driven rain through the house. Miss Christina really and quite litterally was unable to phisically clean up the mess. She wanted Dennis to. He did as much as he could in a day...but had to return to me. I couldn't be left alone. I had to have people watch me when he was away. I was about to give birth anyday.

We sat at the house in the middle of the sugar cane fields and waited for me to have the baby. Finally at my last appointment, I told my Doctor that Dennis was called back to work and had to be at work on Nov. 2, my mom was coming in from PA on Oct. 23 and i was sick of being pregnant. Eliza was due on Oct. 23, so they checked me in at about 12:00 AM on Oct. 20 and started to induce me. Eliza was born at about 7:30 PM that same day. She was a perfect baby. I took the drugs and labor was a breeze too.

The lord knew what he was doing when he blessed us with her. She has the sweetest temperment. She has not been sick at all except for some minor issues. Like teething fevers and what not.

So to let you know what happened in an over view:

Our house minor damage- hole in roof, blown out windows, flooding in the garage. Fence blew down, and Shed blew into neighbors pool.

My Aunt and Uncle in Laplace- Stayed for the strorm and her house faired very well. Her condo had roof damage and water issues.We had to send water and food to her from New Iberia

My Grandparents and retaded Uncle from Chalmette-Lost everything except what they brought with them. They are in there 80's

My cousin Lisa and family lived in Slidell-alot of roof damage, flood water peaked at about 11 feet in their house but it had just been raised 13 feet. The living area of ther house was ruined.

My Aunt Lynn from Slidell- got about half a foot of water in her home

and a sailboat hit her house and knocked it off it's foundation.

My aunt Denise and Family from Lakeview- Her house was 2 blocks from the levy break. Her whole first floor was lost in her home

My Uncle Kurt from New Iberia- Sheltered everyone from Katrina and then Rita...We can never thank him enough.

Although the storms have ended the damages are still ongoing...