The Marine Forces Reserve Band played to a packed house at St. Louis Cathedral on the Fourth Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
It was wonderful.
Unlike four years ago when we were scattered to the winds, my son and his wife and my daughter and I had lunch at a wonderful New Orleans restaurant and casually enjoyed the sights and sounds of the French Quarter.
Then we took a ride to the Ninth Ward. Everything at Holy Cross School, gymnasium, band room, middle class building, high school building, Brothers' Residence, have been bulldozed; everything but the Administration Building which was built in the 1800's and the building where my father boarded as a student on the third floor. The entire property will be turned into a Community Center of sorts with a free medical clinic etc. More government dependency. I would bet that in two years, the Administration Building will be in shambles, if it takes that long....
In the Lakeview area, the Convent and Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Joseph have also been bulldozed. Some areas seem to be making a comeback, like the area around the new Holy Cross School on Paris Avenue. The Ninth Ward does not have much progress except for the houses that Brad Pitt's organization is buiding and giving to people and some that Tulane University architects have designed.
Speeches and marches were held all over today and yesterday. What some people don't realize is that after 4 years, Santa Claus is not coming and you have to find ways to do something for yourself, even if it's only cutting the six feet high weeds that surround your hurricane damaged house. I guess there will always be people dependent on government, as long as government does not cut the navel cord.