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IN
ITS OWN WAY
by Kathleene
S. Baker
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Tears streamed down my
face, and I felt days of tension beginning to ease ever so slightly. Then the
words to a song I had not heard in years were dancing in my head, “Everything
Is Beautiful, In Its Own Way.” However, I must stress, “In
Its Own Way”…!
Watching a caravan of military vehicles, sixteen
wheelers brimming with water and food, private citizens with boats in tow, the
sky filling with helicopters like a migration of birds, and suddenly those words
came to me out of nowhere. Next came beautiful fire engines from California and
a barrage of ambulances. The magnitude of help needed, had finally begun to arrive
in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The worry, tension, and anxiety are not gone
by any means, but finally I know these devastated people are beginning their journey
of recovery. It will be the longest journey of their lives, but the compassionate
people in this great country will rally round them on their way. Not only do they
need creature comforts, homes and jobs in the future - but the emotional shock
they have suffered cannot even be fathomed. Some may never recover completely
from the scars. Luckily, the infants involved will never recall the suffering,
but they are the only ones that will escape the terrifying memories Katrina brought
to our shores.
Many complain that aid did not arrive quickly enough, without
knowing the efforts and probable complications going on behind the scenes. I choose
to believe everything possible was being done to reach out to these folks in need
– that’s what Americans do! This catastrophe included more square miles than the
many of our states. Distributing food, water, medical care, and transportation
for a tragedy of this magnitude, involves more coordination than any of us can
even comprehend. Yes, in a perfect world hopefully aid could have arrived sooner,
but that cannot be changed now. That is the past; from this point on we must look
forward and move forward.
Mention must be made that some citizens of New
Orleans made the mission more difficult, and slowed down the enormous task at
hand. In a time of crisis, thugs endangered their own friends, neighbors, and
rescue teams when time was of the essence! I trust they will be dealt with swiftly
and harshly.
As the news coverage has continued day after day, I have seen
situations that bring those words back to me over and over again. The beautiful
smile of a young woman loaded in a military chopper at long, long last. A lovely
94-year-old lady sitting in a wheel chair with a smile on her face, as she was
finally heading to parts unknown and a future yet to be determined. After living
through a real-life nightmare, they were smiling! Everything is beautiful - in
it’s own way…
There is certainly more sorrow and grief than there
is beauty at this time, but if you look closely enough, bits and pieces can be
found scattered about. It is found in every volunteer, the military personnel,
doctors, nurses, and every state that is arranging a safe haven for the victims
of this tragedy. It was truly beautiful to see the last person leave the Super
Dome, which had become a cesspool of death and disease.
No doubt, for the
time being, these folks will find beauty in things as mundane as sleeping on a
cot instead of a highway, and being handed a new toothbrush and bar of soap.
And absolutely nothing is more beautiful than watching Americans helping Americans
in the midst of “ugly.” Yes, everything is beautiful, in its own way…but
we must choose to look for it, and often times it’s difficult to find. |
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