I finally got to go back home last year. Here is what I did do:
1. I ate at Brennan's. It was a wedding rehearsal dinner that probably cost the groom's parents a fortune. Some people got so drunk that it was embarrassing. Such a beautiful, old place where I've spent some great and some very odd experiences. This one was both. And now I see it is closed. Ah well. At least it wasn't the fault of the drunks at the dinner I attended.
2. I saw the people I wanted to see. We all had dinner together, and it was lovely. I cherish the picture we took of all of us. I miss my friends- some drove in from Baton Rouge and from across the lake. We said hi to Harry Connick who was hanging out in the parking lot for the restaurant.
3. I got to walk in the quarter without feeling like something bad could happen. Pre Katrina I was in NOLA and a dude got too close to me and then tried to yank my purse off my arm. I kept it, and then I gave him the finger as he ran off and looked over his shoulder. It was in broad daylight in front of a lot of people. But this visit, I felt okay.
4. I got to eat at Drago's in Metairie. Ah, heaven.
5. I went to a wedding that had lots of fun drama going on. That rocks!
6. Ate at Commander's Palace.
This is what I didn't do:
1. Visit the grave where my adoptive grandfather and adoptive parents are planted. No point except to see if the people at Metairie Cemetery cleaned it up after Katrina. And that just wasn't what I wanted to do.
2. Eat at Deanie's in Metairie. That was a disappointment.
3. Go dancing at Tipitina's, visit the wonderful zoo, ride the streetcar, and in general, act like a real tourist. We were too busy.
And now, I read NOLA.com every day and it seems that it just gets worse and worse. Now I don't want to go back to the quarter or downtown because I am, for the first time, really afraid I will get hurt. What the heck, New Orleans?? Yeah, I know I'm not there for you. But where is your law enforcement? Where is the national guard for you? Can't you go door to door and ask people to STOP the violence? Even convince them to just stop for a week?
I know other cities have their own problems- but you, NOLA, are the best city in the world to me. You are unique and special. And people want to visit you. But they don't want to die for you. I sometimes feel that my sadness for NOLA will never go away. How can there be no solution? How can people continue to put up with it? How helpless must they feel?
I am so sorry for the people who stay and fight to clean it up. They are such generous and loving people- they are proud of their city and home. Maybe that is the problem- maybe generations of poor education and gang violence and the stupid ideas that shooting or stabbing someone is the way to settle a problem, well, maybe we should start with that and have a huge PR effort to get everyone to STOP and THINK before you SHOOT or STAB. Then just STOP. It isn't about the guns and knives and fists, it is definitely about the PEOPLE. And that is so much harder than controlling any weapon.
It is easy for me to talk- I don't live there. I envy the brave and committed people who work every day to make the city a better and safer place. I hope that sometime I can post how safe NOLA has become. Because prayers haven't worked.
