A Beacon of Light

New Orleans can be a real bummer these days. As you all know my girlfriend's mother recently moved back to New Orleans and I've been trying to help her get her house back to a livable condition. We're slowly getting there, but everything is a fight. This city is a constant reminder of loss and sadly it seems that nothing is easily done...everywhere you turn there are miles and miles of paperwork with a big "no" waiting at the end. Megan's mom is struggling to make it and I know she constantly asks herself why she came back here. This is such a wonderful city and all of us who are born and raised here know and love this city for what it is...and that's why we stay for so little.

We're one of the lucky ones. While we still haven't touched our house after 2 years because of FEMA's incompetence and constant fights with them, we were able to find affordable rental property. So we are at least comfortable. There are a couple of things that still sadden me though about our situation. Of course, I feel for my mom. Our house was everything she had and we've been through this 4 times before. Now our house is just sitting there, empty and gutted and there is nothing we can do. The other thing that saddened me was the loss of a few things that I didn't think I could replace.

I wrote a post a while back on some new bookshelves that we bought for this house we're renting. I was very excited to finally take my books out of the boxes that they've been in since Katrina and put them back on the shelves. However, I was saddened when I saw how few books I had left after Katrina had claimed many and among them were some of my absolute favorites - Chiefly, my set of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

Well today a package arrives at my doorstep and I can't begin to explain the outpouring of emotion I felt when there was a brand new boxset of Tolkien's The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings along with my prize from Carl's Once Upon a Time Challenge. Carl, I honestly can't find the right words to express my gratitude and heartfelt appreciation for this. I thought that I had lost something that was irreplaceable, but they have been replaced by something that will always mean so much more. These books not only represent some of the finest pieces of literature ever written, but they truly come at a time when I needed a beacon of light when things were looking pretty damn dark down here. Carl had told me about these before, but they were just so much more than I was expecting and I felt bad accepting anything at all in the first place! But I will truly cherish these and I'm so glad to have them back on my shelf. They look just right.

For that matter, all of you bloggers have been so wonderful since I've met you and have gotten me through some pretty rough times whether you knew it or not :)

Oh yeah, the rest of the prize package was pretty cool too! I got my Terri Windling print which I love and will get framed as soon as some money comes my way. I'm sure I'll wear the shirt out in no time at all, and the Stainless Steel Envelope O' Goodies is so cool!!! I love things like that. It's a grab bag of comic samplers, post cards, bookmarks, cards, and my very own copy of The Stainless Steel Rat!!! I'll be reading that one right after Love in the Time of Cholera which is up next.