5th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

This is for all the special people that were involved in helping us recover. For the last several years we've had this group from Salisbury, Maryland helping us to fix up our home. I'm so thankful for all that they have done for us and also to know them and have them as a part of our lives. My kids are modeling the shirts they brought to us when they were here in February. It's a somber day, but also one of celebration and remembrance. Katrina brought with her a lot of important life lessons that I am glad to have learned.

This place was gutted when they arrived. We had no walls, no heat, no insulation, nothing covering the floors other than subfloors. The 7 of us had lived in a camper for several years. We got this doublewide that we could afford and had it moved out to family land that was bought a year after the storm. We couldn't stand the camper anymore and moved in here and made the best of it. There was one miserably cold winter with no heat or insulation. We huddled around space heaters the best we could. There was one miserable summer with no air conditioning. I don't even know how we made it through a Mississippi summer like that, but we did. When we first moved in we had 2 lights wired and no working kitchen or bathroom. We had to run back to the camper for awhile to cook and use the bathroom and shower. It all seems so long ago, but I don't want to forget that. I don't want to forget the lessons that I learned from it all and what is really important in life. When this group left the first year they were here I cried for quite awhile. It was funny to feel so close to people we had just only met. I think it's always awesome when something beautiful comes from disaster. It makes me really believe God is looking out for us. I believe we had to show we were willing to work and try before the time was right for help to come our way. If we had sat around crying about the situation and not puting an effort in there is nothing this group could have done for us. We accomplished a lot on the limited income we have with a family our size. There were times it seemed easier to give up than keep on trying, but I'm glad we stuck it out. We cleared land twice, paid my inlaws for the acreage our trailer sits on, paid to have power run back more than 800 feet, had a well drilled, bought the trailer, had it moved, gutted it out, fixed subfloors, put a new roof on, ran wiring, and began framing and pluimbing. When the time was perfect, they were sent to us and I'm so very grateful for how everything turned out. They hung sheetrock all over the trailer, fixed doorways, hung pocket door kits, put floors down, painted, finished drywall, framed and put in windows, put in a new working front door, trimmed doorways and windows, waterproofed the outside of the trailer and hung new vinyl siding. I know that's not all of it either. I believe things happen for a reason, even down to the timing. They have been coming since 2005 to Mississippi and I am so proud to call them my friends. I can't ever thank them enough for all that they have done for my family and I.