(no subject)
I went and volunteered at the LSU field house today. They are using it for a triage unit. I think I was prepared for the type of physical desperation that I would find there (and there was plenty). But I don't think I was prepared for the type of heartache that I was seeing. I spent most of my day talking to people who were still looking for family members. Their tears seemed to well up more quickly than they could even notice. It broke my heart to watch these people cry as they told me that everything that they had loved, their city, their house, and even their family, were now gone and they didn't know when things would ever get back to the same. I felt so helpless. And that made me angry. I don't know if there is any feeling like wanting to help, NEEDING to help, and not being able to do a thing. All I could do was offer a smile, a warm shaky hand, and an un-confident "Everything will be ok."
I did have a little build up for this though. I think what has been going on really started to hit me on Friday morning whenever I watched a large man in the St. Francisville Radio Shack break down sobbing because he couldn't get in touch with his daughter. And I mean the gut wrenching, wheezing between screams crying. Afterward he went straight back to finding out how he could contact his daughter. Right then it started to sink in... I will never have courage like that man does.
I don't think I am going to sleep tonight. It's 2 AM and I am leaving in two and a half hours to ride with Steven to his apartment to try and get as much of his stuff as possible. I don't know if I could sleep if I tried. I don't feel like I deserve something like my own bed.
I want all of you that have had your hearts and your lives uprooted from this that I wish could take your places. In the mean-time, give me a call and the drinks are on me.
I did have a little build up for this though. I think what has been going on really started to hit me on Friday morning whenever I watched a large man in the St. Francisville Radio Shack break down sobbing because he couldn't get in touch with his daughter. And I mean the gut wrenching, wheezing between screams crying. Afterward he went straight back to finding out how he could contact his daughter. Right then it started to sink in... I will never have courage like that man does.
I don't think I am going to sleep tonight. It's 2 AM and I am leaving in two and a half hours to ride with Steven to his apartment to try and get as much of his stuff as possible. I don't know if I could sleep if I tried. I don't feel like I deserve something like my own bed.
I want all of you that have had your hearts and your lives uprooted from this that I wish could take your places. In the mean-time, give me a call and the drinks are on me.