Cards

Last night, when walking in Center City Philadelphia with Ana, a sister with whom I live, on our way to the subway after attending a musical in which her uncle preformed, we passed a man who was panhandling and likely homeless sitting on the South Broad Street sidewalk shaking a paper cup. When I was in New Orleans, I often had business cards with me which I could hand out on such occasions explaining how Unity Welcome Home might be able to help. Actually there is probably a business card from New Orleans still floating around in the bottom of my pocket book, but it would have done him no good to know the address of an agency in NOLA that does outreach with fewer resources than the agencies in Philly. I felt helpless. I wanted to respond, however I don't as a rule give cash to people who pan handle. It helped that he did not verbally request anything from us. I simply nodded and said hello the way I might to any neighbor I pass on the street, as I walked on by. In retrospect I could have called the local outreach team, or responded with a little more compassion but I did not think of it at that moment.

Outreach is another aspect of my New Orleans experience that I really miss.

Even though it has been a month now since I left the Crescent City, I am still in the throws of "reentry" trying to process and integrate the experiences I have had. Oddly enough, getting reacclimated to familiar places and schedules since I returned home has been more of a challenge for me than was adjusting to strangers in an completely unfamiliar city eight months ago. Life is interesting.

I know what it means to miss New Orleans

In case you don't know there is a song that goes "Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?" I can certainly answer "YES!" to that. I find that everything reminds me of New Orleans. When I was first in NOLA it was striking to me that in nearly every conversation anybody had it always eventually connected to Katrina. Now that I have left the Crescent City in nearly every conversation I have I make a connection with something I experienced in New Orleans.

Last night when we went out as a local community in anticipation for our lay volunteer's year ending. We dined at a restaurant in New Jersey which had old European decor. There were several flags with symbols that might appear on a coat of arms. The flag I could most clearly see from where I was seated, was gold with purple trim had a green Fleur De Le on it; of course that reminded me of New Orleans. After we ate we decided to walk along the Camden Water front which reminded me of the River Walk in New Orleans. The ferry that takes commuters across the Delaware River resembled the boat that ferries people across the Mississippi River from Algiers to the French Quarter. At some point in order not to annoy my community or appear to be as obsessed with New Orleans as I really am, I decided that I did not have to state aloud how everything we passed, including a broken lamp post, reminded me of New Orleans.

I miss New Orleans so much, only because it was such a wonderful experience. While I have moments of grief, sadness and longing, ultimately the primary emotion is gratitude because I truly appreciate the opportunity I had to go there, the people I met, the experiences, all that I saw and learned.

return

I have had difficulty getting into my blog to create a new post since I returned to Phiadelphia.
I returned to Philly 2 weeks ago and began my ministry as a therapist at the transitional housing facility sponsored by my congregation last Tuesday.
It is great to see so many of my community members and friends again.
I do feel though that I left a peices of my heart and brain in New Orleans.