The evidence of your life

My family has power back. They have water. Gas and food are no longer scarce. Trees have been sawed and bull-dozed. Limbs and shingles picked up. Looking into getting a new roof. But this is so far from over. I think the emotional toll - those things you can't see on the 5 o'clock news - is doing the most damage now. Lives saved from the storm now falling down around people. Struggling to breath in spite of the heavy weight bearing down on you from everything that must be done to put life back in some sort of order.

Someone said that if you are still alive - even if your house and all your possessions are gone - you have not lost everything. And in fact, that is true. There is nothing more precious than your life and those of your family and friends. But that statement does not take into account the enormous task of rebuilding a life. It discounts the loss of what actually made up your life. The evidence of your life. That's what is lost - the evidence of your life.

"Insurance will take care of it" is another common statement that makes me want to scream. Insurance doesn't come anywhere close to replacing what has been lost. We have lost entire communities. Children have lost their sense of security. At one time, they could close their eyes at night, go to sleep and when they awoke in the morning, all would be well in the world. They now know that isn't always true. Grown-ups have lost homes - some of them will never be able to own another home in their lifetime. They have lost businesses - the American Dream swept away in the storm surge. Many residents will not live long enough to see the Mississippi Gulf Coast rebuilt.

The sense of loss is just too much to comprehend. It is overwhelming and suffocating.