Au Revoir, Old New Orleans

The St.Amant, DuCote and Hyde family of Old New Orleans, LA
I have visited the old New Orleans many times as my oldest and dearest friend lived there, until Katrina. In the old New Orleans you could sip coffee and eat beignets at Cafe Du Monde without a second thought about the levee holding back the river. You could watch the street performers and artists in the French Quarter, catch a ferry boat to cross the river, or just stay home and order a daccarri from your local drive-thru daccarri store. (Yes, I said drive-thru.) The city and the people of the old New Orleans were tightly woven together, one seemingly dependent on the other.

My friend and her entire family lived in the same neighborhood in St. Bernard Parish. They left the old New Orleans the day before Katrina hit, except for her husband who decided to remain behind and ride out the storm. He was found four days later by a Good Morning America news crew and featured on the program the next day as "The Last Man Standing". His story is harrowing to say the least. They have since relocated to Indiana, which is just about as far away from a coastline as you can get.

Last week they returned to the new New Orleans, to salvage what remained of their homes and lives. She called me as she travelled back to Indiana. She told me she had started crying, uncontrollably when she was two miles from what was her home. She spoke with a sadness in her voice about ordering a po' boy and how they asked "How you want it dressed?", how she saw an old friend who asked, "Where you at?". She misses this familiarity and feeling of home. It was a place like no other.

If you never had a chance to visit the old New Orleans, you're too late. Yes, in the new New Orleans, you can still sip coffee at Cafe Du Monde and I'm sure the French Quarter, which sustained minimal damage, has returned to life post Katrina. My friend even mentioned that she found a drive-thru daccarri store open. But the soul of the city has left, at least for now, for Indiana.