..here’s a small sampling of some photos I took of our time in New Orleans. I met a gentleman named Jason who, while taking pictures of evacuated homes, asked “what y’all doin’ out hea?”. To which I responded, “taking pictures of something to remember”.
Jason turns to me, doles out a long, almost menacing stare and says, “Come hea boy, I’ll show you something to remember”.. He then takes me into his mother’s ex-home and rather forlornedly mutters, “I don’t know if we gon fix it up or not.. watch out for them stairs, those two at the top don’t work so good”.
Jason took me next door where he and his family lived previously. “This is the kitchen, you can see what a mess got made ‘a that”. As I was leaving Jason implored me to visit the nearby restaurant Wing Snack. Which I did on my last day of NOLA sun. The Ghetto Punch was ghetto fabulous.
Photos to accompany this story will follow. Jason did give me something to remember, a kind-hearted stranger who was willing to open his boarded up doors to a complete nobody so they could feel what Katrina must have felt like 5 years ago now. Somehow that story still stirs up sorrow and compassion. Vacations are not supposed to be about profound life lessons, but this one felt good. -Bryson-
