Wednesday, 18 January 2006

Those of you who know me know that, had I not been traveling to Mississippi, today I would have been having lunch with Walter Mondale and the Humphrey Fellows and that I was really bummed when I found out I was going to miss that. Well, as much as I would have liked to chat with Fritz, today absolutely rocked. I am so glad I was here. As the students have posted, we arrived at a house that had been virtually untouched since the hurricane. The homeowner is a woman, just a few years older than myself, a Navy veteran with health problems, who rode out the storm in her attic with nine others and her puppy. The water level reached "only" about two feet, but, of course has destroyed virtually everything it touched. By the way, in case you don't realize it, "the water" is salt water that came from the Gulf, not rain water. Anyway, as you have also read, today we were a crew of 19. That's everyone except Sharon and Shanelle who had to travel back to NOLA to do recon for Spring Break trips. But, I digress... You've read about today's activities. What I wanted to post was that these students are amazing. They are doing fabulous, significant, meaningful - fill in your adjective of choice - work and they are rockin. If you know one - or more - of them, thank them, congratulate them. I can't even begin to describe how impressed I am by their motivation, sensitivity, team work, hard work... If you are a parent reading this, you should be VERY proud. They are doing great work. G'night!