As my father and I watched the premiere episode of the HBO series “Treme”, I couldn’t help but think back to my own post-Katrina days filled with sleepless nights, angry mornings and a canal full of tears in between.
Every now and then I can still smell the staleness of our belongings that were trapped in our Eastern New Orleans house.
I even remembered how, just in the TV show, we were looking for relatives and friends, not knowing if they were dead or alive.
“I don’t ever want to go back to those days,” I said to my dad.
Well, at least it made you stronger, he replied. I sat and thought about his statement and I realized that I was indeed stronger in so many different ways. Material things don’t matter to me anymore.
I know that nothing is impossible and nothing is ever really that bad, simply because I survived Katrina. For those who are not from New Orleans, this feeling may not resonate with you. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
Yet, for those who experienced Katrina, it may be 4 ½ years later, but that doesn’t mean we still don’t feel the pain. Every day when we drive by old buildings that were once popular establishments, we are reminded of the past.
We may still cry, cuss and have nightmares over Katrina, but it’s time we understand why all this happened. It made us stronger on an individual level and a citywide level.
The one thing that we must remember is to know how far we’ve come. We even won the Super Bowl!
Let’s celebrate the New Orleans we know, the one that never sleeps, always cooks and second-lines into the sunrise.
That’s the New Orleans I know and that’s what makes me stronger- knowing I made it through with the best city in the world by my side.
Angie Dyer is a mass communication junior. She can be reached at
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