READING HER MIND

Re: “Goodbye Old House,” December 2005

I moved away from New Orleans in 1984, but like so many others that no longer live there, I still consider it home. I still had family and friends in New Orleans and visited regularly. My brother lived in the 70126 ZIP code, near Morrison Road and Crowder Boulevard. Close to nine feet of water flooded his house. In October, he finally was able to return to see what he could salvage. My sister and I joined him as we unearthed a few porcelain statues covered in mud and mold. Like Adonicia Dawson’s house, everything else was destroyed. Walking, or should I say climbing through the debris left us all stunned and with a bundle of emotions. But we had trouble communicating our feelings out loud. When I read Faith Dawson’s article about her family home and the emotions she and her mother experienced, it was as if she had read my mind. Even though I had not physically lived in that house for more than 25 years, it was still my home. It was where we all met when I was back in town. And like her, there were lots of happy memories and growing pains that took place there. And when I read her feelings about locking the doors, I froze. I, too, had and still have that uneasy, incomplete feeling about leaving the house open. It just doesn’t seem right to have the windows open and the doors unlocked, even though the heaps of moldy “garbage” mean nothing. As she said, it’s undignified and hard to accept. We are still waiting to hear what will be done for the people who own these houses and what will happen in the area. Thank you for writing such a personal and touching story.

Sally Boncich

Edison, N.J.

P.S. I was so happy to begin receiving New Orleans Magazine again. I was so worried that it too might have been a victim of the hurricane. I have been subscribing for about four years. It is my main connection back home, and I love to see it in the mail.

OTHER SINS

Re: “Mardi Gras, Katrina and God,” Inside, February 2006

I loved your article. I am always fascinated by the propensity of people to label New Orleans a “sinful city.” I grew up there and have always valued the city and loved it.

The saddest thing of all was when people started talking as if the hurricane was God’s punishment; these are the people who go to New Orleans and seek the seamy side, which also exists in their own hometowns. They do not see that they are bringing to New Orleans the thing that fascinates them, (and) not (seeing) what is there.

I loved your article and hope these self-styled “God People” stay in their own communities and go after people like the Enron guys. Lord knows, there are many more of those kinds of sins around than the ones they attribute to New Orleans.

Madeline Korff

Campton, Ga.