A LETTER FROM THE HURRICANE ZONE

I received this email from our fellow Claymaniac Diane (aikenangel) today. As many of you know, she lives just south of New Orleans. Because so many of you have prayed for Diane, have asked me how she is doing, have donated your time, blood, and money to aid hurricane victims, I thought I would share this letter with you. Several of you have already asked me for Diane's email address or mailing address. If anyone else would like to have them, send me a p.m. Frankie.

"Hi Everyone,

I'm so sorry I haven't written sooner, but I know you understand why. First I want to say "Thank You" for all your emails, your efforts to find me after the hurricane, your prayers, your concerns, and your friendship. A year ago I didn't even know some of you, but now you all have a special place in my heart and always will. You are strangers that have become friends, because of that special someone, CLAY! If only he really knew what he has given to so many of us.

Some of what I am about to say I have probably already shared with some of you, so please bear with me, I don't mean to repeat myself.

We evacuated Sunday morning, 8/28/05 and with my 2 daughters and their families went to my aunt's in Baton Rouge, LA. There were 12 of us living there. We stayed there for about a week, then when we were told that my daughter, Michelle, did not have water or any significant wind damage to her home, we left and went to Destrehan. We lived there with 2 generators for another week, and then the power was restored.

During that time I noticed that my son-in-law's mother, Nancy, did not seem well. She coughed a lot and always slept sitting up. As soon as we were able to schedule an appointment for her she underwent a series of tests and was diagnosed with lung cancer. They said it is a very large mass and is inoperable and that it is in one lung and spreading to the other. She is going to M D Anderson in Houston on Tuesday for a PET Scan to see if there is cancer anyplace else and if it metastasized to the lung since she has never been a smoker.

Also shortly after we got back to Destrehan, we had to put one of our pet dogs to sleep. Nickki was almost 20 years old. He was deaf and blind, but it got to the point where he could not even stand he was so weak, he had stopped eating and drinking, and just laid there, and every now and then cried as though in pain. I know he lived a long time, but it was still a hard decision and a great loss to us because we loved him so much.

In our home we had 7 inches of water in the den, and almost 3 inches in the rest of the house. The wind blew down our fence, tore off our patio cover and damaged our roof. State Farm has estimated our loss to be over $60,000. We had to pull up carpet, tear out sheetrock, and replace some furniture and appliances, and there is mold in every room (which is why I am still living with my daughter). But we were blessed. Most of my friends lived in St. Bernard parish and lost everything under 10 feet of water. One of my friends even lost her father. He was one of the nursing home patients in St. Rita's Nursing Home that was abandoned by the owners. My friend had gone there on Friday before the hurricane to ask about the evacuation plan (he was bedridden). She was told not to worry that they would be evacuating them to Lafayette, LA. She asked if they were sure, because if not, even though it would be difficult that she would take her dad with them to Florida. They kept reassuring her so she left in good faith. She later found out that he was left to drown in his bed.

My cousin and her husband stayed for the hurricane and were fine, but evacuated to Houston after it passed. There he had a heart attack. They coded him but it was not soon enough, he had brain damage. He slipped into a coma and later was brain dead. He died this past Monday and we buried him yesterday. He was 45.

The first few days after the hurricane I couldn't cry, I guess I was just in shock. Then, everytime I drank a glass of water I cried and felt so guilty because I saw all those people still on their roofs waiting to be rescued, with nothing to eat or drink, and they were literally dying from dehydration and heat.

I do not have a job at this time, I worked in an area of New Orleans that they say will not be able to recover for almost a year. 20 of the 25 doctors in our medical group have lost everything or had significant damage to their homes. So far only 7 of them have returned to our practice.

I have applied for unemployment and food stamps. I have received money from FEMA and Red Cross. When the Red Cross representative gave me my debit card she said, "This is for you from the people of America", and I cried. I cried because I saw all the faces of my fellow Claymates who had donated, and all the people all over the United States who also gave. People I would never know or ever meet. But people with big hearts who had one thing in common, they cared.

It is so hard to be on the receiving end. It really humbles you. It touches you much more than the disaster ever could.

We did not receive mail for exactly one month after Katrina hit. I remember standing in this very long line at the post office when the little boy in front of me asked his mother what they were doing there. She answered, "We're here to get our bills." And I thought, that is so true, we are standing in line to get our bills so we can feel normal again.

The trashman didn't pass for a very long time, but I remember the first time he did we all ran outside to watch, because that too was a little bit of normalcy.

I feel like a blind man that is seeing for the first time. Things I took for granted, the mail, the trashman, going to McDonald's, I see them all so differently now. I feel like I am living in another dimension.

New Orleans is still not completely open. There is a curfew. No one is allowed on the streets of New Orleans between 8:00 P.M. and 6:00 A.M. It is so strange to see a city that rarely slept totally deserted and quite every night.

Military still walk around with their guns and helicopters still fly over. We are attempting to return to the way it was, but it will take time.

In the meantime, please remember that I think of you every day and pray for you every night. You mean so very much to me -- I am so very, very lucky to have all of you.

Thank you again for everything, the DVDs, the cards, the emails with the pictures of Clay attached. YOU DO BRIGHTEN MY DAY!

Love,
Diane "