Dear New Orleans: We've Moved On

We move on. Our capacity to care, to really care, about the plight of strangers knows its bounds. It's human nature, I think. No one of us can be deeply concerned about every issue facing every segment of humanity. We would implode, go into psychological and emotional meltdown.

And, so, we have moved on, most of us, from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The haunting images of the huddled masses in the Super Dome, of the decimated homes of the Ninth Ward, of the rusting, abandoned cars, and the hollow eyes of worn out victims are fading in our minds.

We have moved on to other things more pressing, closer to home. We are concerned with rising gas prices, falling property values, a teetering economy, an impending election.

I am sorry to say that I had moved on. I was there, in New Orleans, just ten days after the event that would forever change the face of the city. I stayed there, lived and worked there, for nine months...as an insurance adjustor. Every day during those long months, I dealt with devastated people and their decimated properties. I saw the incredible resilience of some. I saw others reach the breaking point. I hugged an older woman while she shuddered and wept over her lost life. I listened while a young mother ranted about how little was being done by the American government to help restore her beloved city. I talked with some who declared they would never go back there; they just couldn't. Others said they would never live anywhere else.

I was there and it felt like I would always be there, if not in body, then in spirit. I would never forget the sights, the sounds, the smells of that place. But here I am...I've moved on.

Thankfully, not everyone has. Some cannot. Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson is one of those. He is a New Orleans native, and he is angry and frustrated at the lack of progress in the recovery and rebuilding of one of America's most unique and soulful cities. Can you blame him?

Me neither.

Read the Avery Johnson quotes as recorded by Phil Jasner of the Philadelphia Daily News here.

Read...and remember those who still cannot just move on.