More Ups and Downs Than a Yo-Yo

It's been just weeks since Katrina, since my brother and his wife endured the storm that took everything they had and walked away from their life in the city they loved (well at least Robert loved the city we grew up in). Their safety is certain, their future is not. With only the three small suit cases of belongings they carried and the small amount of federal aid they have received, they have to start over completely. No jobs, no home, no certainty. They borrow space from a relative and are still mostly thankful that they are alive and safe, as are the rest of us.

Now, Rita bears down on the Gulf and heads for Houston. My fears and uncertainty from before are magnified again. My family once again is in the path of a hurricane. All of my sisters are currently in Houston. D is in Houston right now helping our older sister Bunny evacuate her family from the Galveston area to Dallas. I'm relieved that Bunny and her three kids and her husband are on their way to safety and frustrated by the incredible amount of time it is taking (4 hours to get from Galveston to Houston), but mostly relieved and anxious to have D arrive with Bunny and her kids and mostly my Cabbage Patch. My relief is tempered with worry though as my stubborn father refuses to evacuate. He, his wife and my stepsister and her family are going to ride out the storm. He says they won't get much damage if any. I hope he's right.

Anyway, in 24 or so hours I'll have my sister and her family here with me. In my townhouse. All of us. Together. I may need to go shopping... I don't think I have enough booze!

If you can spare kind thoughts, etc., keep my family in them.

And did you know that President Bush refused Cuba's offer to send 1100 doctors with medicine to help after Katrina because "enough American doctors have volunteered"? Shame on him.