[StBernard] St. Patrick's Parade

[Westley Annis]

Someone sent me this article.  I thought everyone would enjoy reading it.
 
Happy Easter,
Jo Senko
 
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 Grab a tissue and read this, , , ,


>> 4/13/06 23:14 ET



>>A STORY BY A RELIEF WORKER FROM CALIFORNIA ABOUT ST. BERNARD PARISH 

>>Happy St. Patrick's Day! Last weekend I experienced the most joyful 

>>St. Patrick's experience, I have to share it.

>>

>>I was in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana - one of the most devastated 

>>areas in the state. You've seen the Lower 9th Ward on TV - well St.

>>Bernard Parish is right next to it, and every single person there lost 

>>his home in the flood.

>>

>>But here's the amazing thing. Last Sunday they celebrated their annual 

>>St. Patrick's Parade. It's a big deal there. I went there with my 

>>sister and her friend to do some volunteer work, but everyone we met 

>>asked, "Did you come for the parade?"

>>

>>On Sunday we drove down the main street in the Parish, on our way to 

>>visit some neighborhoods to see what we could do to help. But it 

>>turned out that we were driving down the parade route right before the 

>>parade started. There were hundreds(possibly thousands) of people 

>>lined up 3 people thick on the sides of the road waiting for the 

>>parade. They were laughing and smiling, most wearing green of course.

>>

>>They looked so happy you almost didn't notice all the collapsed 

>>buildings right behind them. But when you did notice, it was the most 

>>surreal scene you could ever imagine. Joy in the presence of 

>>devastation. In that moment they were so happy to be reunited and have 

>>their parade that they were able to forget the horrendous scene that 

>>stretched for miles in all directions around them.

>>

>>Just a few miles away in New Orleans the people throw beads to the 

>>crowd during Mardi Gras. In the St. Bernard Parish St. Patrick's 

>>Parade they throw beads too. They also throw carrots, potatoes and 

>>cabbage! All the main ingredients for a good corned beef and cabbage 

>>stew, minus the corned beef, which I imagine would present a huge 

>>health hazard if it were thrown!

>>

>>It's an annual tradition, and these resilient people weren't going to 

>>let anything (not even hell or high water) get in the way of an annual 

>>tradition.

>>

>>We were still out in the neighborhoods talking with a few people who 

>>stayed behind to gut their houses when the parade ended. The people 

>>who'd been to the parade came home to their trailers parked in front 

>>of their flood-damaged homes with trunks full of beads and vegetables. 

>>They all had huge smiles. They told us to take whatever we wanted from 

>>their trunks. They offered us food they'd barbequed for the 

>>celebration.

>>

>>Here we'd come to help them, and they were doing everything they could 

>>to help us. One woman gave us her phone number and told us we could 

>>stay with her family the next time we were in the area.

>>Everyone hugged us and welcomed us and thanked us for being there. 

>>And these words kept coming into my head: nothing but love. 

>>Everything else was gone, but the love was still there.

>>

>>I told some of the women I was amazed at how resilient they all were. 

>>One of them said this was an especially good day because of the 

>>parade. "But believe me, we still have our days of crying, too".

>>

>>If you drive through St. Bernard Parish you understand the crying 

>>part. I saw things I never thought I'd see. A brick house, still 

>>attached to it's foundation, that popped out of the ground and floated 

>>past 7 houses until it crashed into another one. And I met a sweet 

>>teenage girl who lived in the house it crashed into. When I asked her 

>>about her house, her voice cracked and she fought back tears. But when 

>>I asked her about the parade she beamed.

>>

>>People around the country keep asking why those affected by Katrina 

>>don't just move away. And in St. Bernard they say, "Because this is 

>>where my people are". And now I understand what they mean. They 

>>reminded me of the Whos in Whoville who celebrated even when the 

>>Grinch took everything away. Katrina hadn't stopped St. Patrick's from 

>>coming, it came! Somehow or other, it came just the same.

>>

>>So if you're walking around today and someone pelts you with a potato 

>>or a cabbage, don't be offended. It's probably just someone from St. 

>>Bernard Parish just sharing the love.