Pooh

Hi , I was wondering how is everything going now in Angel Lane for you? I hope you are making it well. Is everyone still excited about their beautiful homes? They were so beautiful. Please respond

Angel Lane--the truth!

Okay, people keep asking and assuming. Everyone says that Oprah GAVE us homes. ...LOL that's news to me. Let me clear up the fiction. Ms. Winfrey did not GIVE us any homes. WE HAD TO QUALIFY for the homes. We had to fill out extensive paperwork, be employed, provide tax records, and vital statistic records. We had to pay closing costs, yes, I said PAY closing costs and until the mortgage (YES, I SAID MORTGAGE), was closed we had to provide pay stubs every time we got paid. Additionally, we had to actually work on the homes, roofing, planting, hammering, and cleaning up trash.

So let's get the fiction straightened out with truth. We worked for it, we paid for it, and we continue to pay a house note every month like so many other hardworking citizens. You can't get something for nothing--it does not work that way. We all had to pay utility deposits just like everyone else does again we are productive people who just got a little help in a catastrophic situation. It is hard work--no complaints just fact. Truthfully, most of us will be very glad when the hype actually goes away and we can return to the anonymity of routine. Though we have been blessed it is extremely hard to embrace "normal" again when the people and places that you are used to seeing every day are no longer around or no longer exist. It is hard to get up in the morning and not feel just a little bit guilty about the fact that there are folks still living in gutted homes with blue-tarped roofs in New Orleans and Mississippi towns that seem to be forgotten by the media. It is tiring to have well-meaning people introduce you to others as someone who is from New Orleans and "just getting" his or her life back together. No kidding, I have actually had educated people introduce me to their friends as an evacuee, never mind the fact that I actually have a first and last name. It is like--gee, look we have our very own evacuee. For a moment there, it seemed as though we were fashionable, i.e. to know an evacuee was a cool thing. At least until people started thinking that we only wanted a free ride. Granted there are some that do subscribe to that mentality, but the rest of us, the vast majority of us--just want a place to sleep at and routine job to go to every day.

Dullness is a blessing!

We pay property taxes here. This is home. New Orleans is a part of everyone, but my house payment is mailed in Texas not LA.