Post by Doug on Sept 8, 2005 15:02:16 GMT -5
I just checked the main church email address, and found some emails. Here is one from Alice Van Farrowe:
_____________________________________________
Dear family & friends,
We hope this finds all high & dry. We evacuated to Columbus, GA in the wee hours of darkness Sunday AM. We didn't have a bit of traffic taking backroads & going away from where everyone else was going-Houston. Of course, much of that traffic could have been avoided had people listened to the authorities to go north prior to going west. Of course, one friend took backroads, & it was still a lengthy drive. Our original plan was to go to Birmingham, AL, but decided that would be too close to possible tornado activity. We stayed at a hotel the first 3 nights & took a time of reflection at a nearby garden yesterday-a much needed respite with so much terrible news. A friend/evacuee in Houston said to me on the phone that this event is life changing. At the garden yesterday, I was encouraged by the "birth" of a butterfly. It was a changing of life too but a beautiful one.
Last night, we arrived at a friend of a friend's home outside of Montgomery, AL where we'll stay for a few nights. We'd like to inch our way back to Mandeville & then New Orleans when they let us go in to assess & collect. The current word is that that will be on Monday or
Tuesday of next week. But we won't go back until they have secured New Orleans from the looting & violence taking place. It may just be too dangerous at this point. For those of you who are from there or lived there at some point, you are probably less surprised at the poor behaviour of some of our citizens. We are not surprised, but we are disappointed to say the least. It is an embarrassment to what once was a unique place-something we've realized all the more as we've travelled both overseas & within the US. I doubt that the spirit is broken, but certainly many other things are.
We have heard that our home & neighborhood is dry but may have some wind damage. The breeches in the levees that caused mass flooding on the East Bank were from the lake (on the other side of the river from us) not the river. However, they are currently allowing people to cross the bridge on foot to the West Bank & are ferrying others over
from Chalmette which may only cause a looting problem. This is a major prayer concern. It is not that our home has many fineries that a looter would want. Our tvs & stereos are outdated & anything of value (outside of family heirloom furnishings) are with us. But I've been
the victim of burglary twice before & know that it is an issue of feeling violated. Pray this will not be added to the list.
We have been rolling with the punches well considering. Ross has been a major source of perspective & seems largely unaffected, a blessing. Once, he was standing in the mirror sticking out his tongue & cracking up laughing at himself. I told Nathan how wonderful that would be to
be able to forget the circumstances & be amused by something so simple. He seems to know when I need a hug or just being told "I love you, Mommy." He's quite the trooper. Of course, Nathan has also been a rock; I don't know that I know another human soul who is truly so
Christ-like. I've tried to keep my sense of humor about life & love it when I can give Nathan a laugh. After seeing the Twin Span (from NO East to Slidell) broken into bits in footage the other day, the reality of it all suddenly hit me. For Nathan, it has been a more gradual realization. We've been angry at the poor planning of city & state officials, the things that have long since not been done knowing NO's vulnerability, & at some of the people's outrageous behaviour which has taken authorities away from taking care of others who sincerely & desperately need help. We are saddened & unsure of what & where the future is. Still trying to not get too overwhelmed. So here we are in
the midst of our grieving process. Pray as we progress.
We are also in the midst of buying the house in Mandeville (also suffered wind damage; unsure of flooding in our particular neighborhood). Not sure what will happen or what we'll do. In some ways, knowing it is there has been a type of security blanket. Yet we may be headed to Houston after the assess & collect so Nathan can work
from the office there. Ultimately, we will likely be moving there anyway; we were hoping to get a few more years in the NO area first...especially with a baby on the way. Please pray for wisdom & discernment in that dept. We'll need a new doctor for pre-natal visits-even if that is just for the next month or two. I'm quite picky in that dept. & it's a major source of personal anxiety. Remember, I'm
a sequential. :-)
My family is well. My parents are in Natchez, MS & my brother & his family are in the Houston area. We do not currently know where my aunt, uncle, cousins/husband are who live mostly in Waveland, MS- a block or so from the beach. A couple of friends are in Houston. There
are others that I am unsure of their whereabouts. If you are one of these, please contact us via e-mail within the next day or so. After that, I am unsure when we'll have access to the internet again. Some of you we've heard from have been a tremendous encouragement to us.
And we thank you for that. My final request is to please pray for direction. This is a very confusing time. As soon as you think you have a plan, more questions arise, more issues arise, more concerns arise. We keep waiting to wake up from this outrageous nightmare. I plan on telling Nathan all about it, & he'll laugh at the craziness of
it all. Wouldn't that be nice. We feel like we did on 9-11. It is surreal.
Love to you all. Alice, along with Nathan & Ross
_____________________________________________
Dear family & friends,
We hope this finds all high & dry. We evacuated to Columbus, GA in the wee hours of darkness Sunday AM. We didn't have a bit of traffic taking backroads & going away from where everyone else was going-Houston. Of course, much of that traffic could have been avoided had people listened to the authorities to go north prior to going west. Of course, one friend took backroads, & it was still a lengthy drive. Our original plan was to go to Birmingham, AL, but decided that would be too close to possible tornado activity. We stayed at a hotel the first 3 nights & took a time of reflection at a nearby garden yesterday-a much needed respite with so much terrible news. A friend/evacuee in Houston said to me on the phone that this event is life changing. At the garden yesterday, I was encouraged by the "birth" of a butterfly. It was a changing of life too but a beautiful one.
Last night, we arrived at a friend of a friend's home outside of Montgomery, AL where we'll stay for a few nights. We'd like to inch our way back to Mandeville & then New Orleans when they let us go in to assess & collect. The current word is that that will be on Monday or
Tuesday of next week. But we won't go back until they have secured New Orleans from the looting & violence taking place. It may just be too dangerous at this point. For those of you who are from there or lived there at some point, you are probably less surprised at the poor behaviour of some of our citizens. We are not surprised, but we are disappointed to say the least. It is an embarrassment to what once was a unique place-something we've realized all the more as we've travelled both overseas & within the US. I doubt that the spirit is broken, but certainly many other things are.
We have heard that our home & neighborhood is dry but may have some wind damage. The breeches in the levees that caused mass flooding on the East Bank were from the lake (on the other side of the river from us) not the river. However, they are currently allowing people to cross the bridge on foot to the West Bank & are ferrying others over
from Chalmette which may only cause a looting problem. This is a major prayer concern. It is not that our home has many fineries that a looter would want. Our tvs & stereos are outdated & anything of value (outside of family heirloom furnishings) are with us. But I've been
the victim of burglary twice before & know that it is an issue of feeling violated. Pray this will not be added to the list.
We have been rolling with the punches well considering. Ross has been a major source of perspective & seems largely unaffected, a blessing. Once, he was standing in the mirror sticking out his tongue & cracking up laughing at himself. I told Nathan how wonderful that would be to
be able to forget the circumstances & be amused by something so simple. He seems to know when I need a hug or just being told "I love you, Mommy." He's quite the trooper. Of course, Nathan has also been a rock; I don't know that I know another human soul who is truly so
Christ-like. I've tried to keep my sense of humor about life & love it when I can give Nathan a laugh. After seeing the Twin Span (from NO East to Slidell) broken into bits in footage the other day, the reality of it all suddenly hit me. For Nathan, it has been a more gradual realization. We've been angry at the poor planning of city & state officials, the things that have long since not been done knowing NO's vulnerability, & at some of the people's outrageous behaviour which has taken authorities away from taking care of others who sincerely & desperately need help. We are saddened & unsure of what & where the future is. Still trying to not get too overwhelmed. So here we are in
the midst of our grieving process. Pray as we progress.
We are also in the midst of buying the house in Mandeville (also suffered wind damage; unsure of flooding in our particular neighborhood). Not sure what will happen or what we'll do. In some ways, knowing it is there has been a type of security blanket. Yet we may be headed to Houston after the assess & collect so Nathan can work
from the office there. Ultimately, we will likely be moving there anyway; we were hoping to get a few more years in the NO area first...especially with a baby on the way. Please pray for wisdom & discernment in that dept. We'll need a new doctor for pre-natal visits-even if that is just for the next month or two. I'm quite picky in that dept. & it's a major source of personal anxiety. Remember, I'm
a sequential. :-)
My family is well. My parents are in Natchez, MS & my brother & his family are in the Houston area. We do not currently know where my aunt, uncle, cousins/husband are who live mostly in Waveland, MS- a block or so from the beach. A couple of friends are in Houston. There
are others that I am unsure of their whereabouts. If you are one of these, please contact us via e-mail within the next day or so. After that, I am unsure when we'll have access to the internet again. Some of you we've heard from have been a tremendous encouragement to us.
And we thank you for that. My final request is to please pray for direction. This is a very confusing time. As soon as you think you have a plan, more questions arise, more issues arise, more concerns arise. We keep waiting to wake up from this outrageous nightmare. I plan on telling Nathan all about it, & he'll laugh at the craziness of
it all. Wouldn't that be nice. We feel like we did on 9-11. It is surreal.
Love to you all. Alice, along with Nathan & Ross