before picture

I had thought I would add a new photo today. I am starting a new First Place session at my church to create balance in my life. Hopefully the side effect of this newly gained balance will be a loss of self - 20 pounds, to be exact. That's my goal this time. Since this time last year, I am down roughly 35 pounds. This past summer I did battle with the same 5 pounds. Up 5. Down 5. Repeat.
I am determined to end that cycle.
So as I was saying, I thought I'd post my Before picture here today - to remind and inspire. However, upon downloading and reviewing, my vanity won out and I am unable to share. Who knew a lime green shirt would make you look like a pear? Particularly when you are shaped like one!! Mayhaps I will be more inclined to post the After shot in early December when we wrap up this study.

I continue to give a great deal of thought to this Hurricane Katrina mess. My family went through the eye of the storm in South Mississippi. My parents in one place and my brother and his family in another. BOTH groups of my family went through the eye of the storm. This seems so odd and unlikely to me. Several friends I have spoken with since have told me that they will NEVER stay again. That it was the most terrifying experience of their lives. And these are folks that were 50 miles inland - not even on the coast.

One friend is a nurse at a large hospital on the MS Gulf Coast. She worked the Saturday before Katrina till the Friday after. In an email shortly after Katrina passed over, she wrote of the smell and the stillness. That has stuck with me. What does the immediate aftermath of a hurricane smell like. Before the decay. Before the filth has baked in the sun. What must that smell like? Katrina hit on Monday. She tells me it was THURSDAY before the Red Cross and FEMA made it to her hospital. She is my hero.

Speaking of heros, I am so humbled by the outpouring of aide and assistance that continues to flow in for the survivors. In our small hometown, power crews from NJ, NY, VA, Quebec. Police from Jacksonville, FL. I see where the firefighters and policemen from NY's 9/11 are on the MS Gulf Coast to offer their services. I am just floored by these angels of mercy that came with single-minded determination - and that being simply to help. Thank You is not nearly enough but it's all I have to offer.

The media continues to present images of destruction after the storm. The pictures continue to run through my mind. Just once, can't someone remind us of the beauty that once was - that will be again. This is when I would like to post a BEFORE picture.