I learned a few days ago that our neighbor Dan died back in October. I don’t know where or how, but we certainly miss him. He will never cut our little patch of grass or fix our door again. Rest in peace, Dan.
Update: Shortly after posting this, I learned that MaPó’s mother died just a few days ago. Jim Louis’ mother died very recently too; Jim lives right across the street from MaPó. And Jose, the Cuban guy who used to live right next door to us, told me that his mother died just a few weeks ago. Xy’s coworker’s mother died two weeks ago; fifteen fellow teachers helped clean up the yard of her flooded property in Lakeview. So that’s four mothers gone, and I think at least three of them might have been hastened on their way by the ill winds of Katrina. But I think Dan is actually survived by his mother. Tragic.
That is tragic. Katrina was really hard on older people. I know of several older folks who passed away as a direct result of the storm. One of them was a man in his 90s who had a heart attack after spending 19 hours in a car going from New Orleans to Houston. His 80 year old wife was driving. The storm was also tragic for people with disabilities. A good friend of mine drowned in her first floor East New Orleans apartment when no agency was available to save her. This is her story: http://www.benildacaixeta.com/home.html
NPR did a story on this very subject this morning.