Thankful

I am quite late on my Thanksgiving post but didn't want it to go unmentioned. I think it has taken me 41 Thanksgivings to truly understand what I have to be thankful for. And maybe I still don't have it figured out but I think I am getting closer. I will be the first to admit that in years past I have been thankful for some pretty shallow and frivolous things. Jon and I left last Wednesday to see my sister and her family and my parents in Louisiana, just northeast of New Orleans. Their town was hard hit by Katrina. This was my first trip back since the storm. I spent my entire childhood there. Although I couldn't wait to get out of there as soon as I graduated from college, I still call it "home".
We've all seen pictures and video of the destruction. Believe me it's worse than that. I lived there for years but didn't recognize much of it. But what you don't see in the pictures are the stories.
We spent a good part of Thanksgiving day volunteering through my parent's church feeding a Thanksgiving meal to those that needed it. We actually didn't have that many people show up to be served. We didn't expect that. I think that the people that are back are "making do" with whatever they have (in some cases little to nothing) and the others simply aren't able to come back yet. I met some amazing people including two ladies named Lydia and Ruby. Lydia evacuated to Houston but had over 7 feet of water in her house and lost everything. The night before Thanksgiving was the first night in three months that she slept on a mattress. Ruby is 84 and rode out the storm alone in her house. She didn't evacutate since she had half a tank of gas, a flat tire and no money, and no one to help her out. God I wish I had known her three months ago. She had over three feet of water in her house for a few days. Now here is the amazing part. Neither of these women were there to receive lunch. They were pretty much leading the volunteer effort. Lydia was making sure that I put enough mashed potatoes on each plate. Ruby had me, my sister, and my niece slicing, covering and arranging pies like there was no tomorrow. I've thought of Ruby a lot since Thursday. Sometimes you briefly cross paths with someone, probably never see them again but never ever forget them either. That's Ruby.