Steve, I've been thinking about you and Heather off and on recently; I'm so glad to hear that you've got a roof to call your own. (A functional roof, that is.) This is awesome news; you've so earned it. You and everyone else who's been suffering down there. I hope the upcoming school year is much easier than the last! Let us know how it goes!

You are so right! I had no idea that I'd go to bed one night and the next night I'd have lost everything because of a fire. We were rebuilding and the storm tore that down and destoryed the few things that were left in the garage. Yes, life is what happens when you are making other plans and doing something else. I know that you will really enjoy your new home. We lived in the Bay when I first moved here and I will always love the area across the bridge and in the direction of the setting sun.

So glad to hear that you are in a new house. Good Luck and god Bless.

Congratulations, Steve and Heather, on your new home. And thank you, once again, for sharing your story. Beautifully written.

glad ya'lls HOME is rebuilt....man keep us posted!...blessings

I know the feeling. I have yet to return to the Bay and want to badly but just can not right now. But you are right we mourn the familiar things; daily routines, people who we knew well and people who we saw in passing. I can understand it completely what a year it has been!!! It will never be the same again.

Good for you! I am very happy you and Heather have been fortunate to find a house you love. I'm sure everyone feels this way because we feel we know you from your stories. And we see ourselves in your stories, too. But when are you going to continue your science fiction stories? Come on now, you can come up with some good stuff aboutyour do-it-yourself polyurethane, etc.

speaking of the Greatful Dead " I will get by... I will survive"...Peace man

Steve, just logged onto your site , and i can totally understand your feelings of mourning! my family and I survived Charley in Punta Gorda FL. I still curse the storm and all of the little things they destroy such as your fav. market. Fear not! There is life after, and maybe in a certain sense a better one, or at least one in which you really appreciate the things and people that should be appreciated. CONGRATS on your new home, and keep up the great work!!

Steve, yes everything and everyone is different now. Atleast we have memories of those things we got a chance to experience. When my husband was able to come back two days after the storm, he went into the Sun Coast Hotel. He was hugged by a girl who had worked at Walmart as a clerk that had recognized him from his frequent visits and small talk. She was just happy to see a familiar face, a piece of normalcy, a hope, and now a memory. That reminds me of my senior quot in the Bay High year book; "Although our time has passed, our memories will linger on." LOL Not sure if the quot is exact, lost my yearbook in the storm. Take care.

Congratulations, Steve. I really appreciate the picture you paint of the Bay. A place where you are known and trusted and handed the keys to the store, to go help yourself, until he can get to you. I remember as a teen finding the "closeness" a bit stifling, but what a blessing it was. People did know and care and your momma would find out, if you were somewhere you shouldn't be! I am so sorry you have to have a new home, and wish it weren't so. I also glad that you have a place to begin again. I'm at the point where I try not to think too much about the Bay...'cause I want to be happy, and it makes me so sad, sometimes. I still do pray for you all daily and can't help but cherish all the wonderful memories. Thanks for telling it like it is...the funny and the sad. Ya'll take care and enjoy that new house and those new neighbors... cause they'll be near and dear to your heart in no time.

You have been handed an exceptionally difficult situation, and your family has navigated it beautifully. I wish you all the best in your new home.

Hi Steve,
I am thrilled you and Heather have new digs to call home. We can't wait to see the new house. We just sprayed for the black widows in our Waveland property..for those who don't know...the storm disrupted the eco system..the birds that ate the spiders are not as plentiful.. hence...beaucoups of black widows. And yes..what a long strange trip it has been and continues to be but..keep playing those drums and keep up the great posts..

If I could only find a plumber my Mom's house would move right along. The First United Methodist Church of Clinton, MS has been a blessing. Thanks to them and their congregation.
Maddog 45

T Blaize, there are some plumbers from the northern part of the state there...they are good plumbers...But Don't give them money...untill the job is finished

Steve - great story and wonderfully written - you hit the nail on the head - we will survive and we will be stronger and better people for it, but it will never be the same - some may say it will be better and I am a very positive person and also recognize that yes, things will be better in many ways: everything in town will be new and things will be stronger -- but "better".. that's hard to do when we have lived the type of life you described in your story .. "different, yes.. but "better" - I don't know, what we had will be hard to beat!! Hang in there and happy for you and your new home!

Steve, having seen your new home I can safely say that it's a deluxe crib. And so high up in the air! You did the right thing and besides, Bay St. Louis is just cooler. I'm glad I was able to talk you out of using plywood for flooring material because that would have been, like, insane.

P.S. Hey Miss T!! Good to see ya sober!

When we were in Long Beach last fall, we took a picture of a sign along Beach Blvd that said "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and every time I hear that song, I think of all of you. The people we met, the way they inspired us, and how gracious they were to all of us who were volunteering. Now, after reading your post, I realize that the dreams weren't really broken or gone forever. The dreams have always been there, staying alive thanks to people like you. Maybe the dreams were just lost for a while and waiting to be found. Thank you for your post. We're thrilled for you and pray that God will bless your new home.

I am so glad to hear that you have been able to rebuild your home and begain a new life!! Your mother hit it right on the nose. I never expected my life to take the turn it has in the past 3 months but I am thankful for what I am left with. I have my health and my beautiful little girl, Norah! I wouldn't want anything more. I have read several of your stories and they're truely inspiring. I wish you the best. Take care yourself and your family.

People used to tell me . . . "You can always go home" . . . when discussing my plans to move away for a better job opportunity. But after Katrina, home is not the same . . . and there is no going "home" with many of our favorite hang-outs and neighborhoods completely gone. But I am steadily learning it's the people who make it "home." I haven't met anyone in my travels, after surviving Katrina, who can have as much fun just sitting around visiting as we do in Mississippi. You are among intelligent, talented people when everything around you is in shambles and somehow you still make each other laugh! Since Katrina I've relocated for a new job (not because of the storm though . . . I'd been planning on relocating months prior to that heffer!). Virtually everyone I've met in North Carolina, who has helped in recovery efforts, has nothing but good things to say about Mississippi. One even told me she's never had such good friends in all her years of living in the Tar Heel State, as the ones she's made down on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I might physically be elsewhere these days pursuing my dreams . . . but my heart is . . . and will probably always be . . . in Mississippi.

"I'm shuffling thru that Texas sand...but my heads in Mississippi and I was stumbling thru the parking lot of an invisible 7-11"....man there was something about a naked cowgirl too.....Ohhh she was dancing across the ceiling.....Howling Wolf is involved too. Dangitt.....I LOVE MISSISSIPPI and all the people who live here!....This is my state.

My heart goes out to you and the others that suffered a loss, of any type. Here in Los Angeles, no matter if it is a fire, rain heat or cold every thing seems just to go on as normal. I feel helpless and wish I could do something to help. I can recall the day of the L.A. Riots, when my mother in law had no electricity and the streets were flooded. I went out to buy ice and in Manhattan Beach I saw some people having a Bar B Que on their 2nd story deck, Food ad drinks 5 miles from turmoil...

Today was my first time on your site and I am still wiping away the tears. I have a special place in my heart for the Gulf Coast. My sons played regional Little League Championships in Biloxi for several years and I have never met such warm and welcoming folks, the kind of people who ask "how ya'll doin'today" and then take the time to listen to your answer. Even when we were the opposing team to Miss. boys we were treated like old friends, boys from both teams laughing together during breaks in play, parents having a beer together after the game and win or lose, sportsmanship was the order of the day. I was broken hearted to see Katrina rip through your lives and cried for days. After a couple of summers of driving down to the Gulf with vans full of teenaged boys, the area became like a summer home to us and to this day those are some of my fondest memories of time spent with my sons.
I never met anyone in the area that did not go out of there way to make us feel at home. I will be in the area this summer as a voluteer and can't wait to roll up my sleeves and get dirty, heat, humitidity and bugs, are no competition to the desire we all have to see the residents of the area rebuild their lives. I pray for ya'll daily and wish you continue blessings as you move forward through these difficult times. See you this summer!

Peg, thanks for saying such nice things. We appreciate you and all the volunteers who have come to help. You are the salt of the earth. Just like the people on the Coast.

I sat here in my Australian home watching new reports on Katrina and could not imagine being in that situation. I am so lucky even if i think other wise. I wish you all well in rebuilding your lives and its true. It's the people who make it "home." not the home that makes the people. good luck and my the joy light your ways