Home Sweet Home

A 33.5 hour van ride from New Orleans to Ewing, NJ pretty much says for itself that we ran into a few roadblocks along the way on our return trip. After a long and very productive work week for all of our teams, getting back to TCNJ in the amount of time that it took us to get to New Orleans would have been nice. But, unfortunately, mother nature had different plans for us. Instead of arriving at TCNJ at noon on Sunday 1/18, as planned, we instead ran into an ice storm in Tennessee which forced us to camp out for the night since it was too dangerous to continue on. While frustrating, we knew this decision was for the best. Around 7:30am, we attempted again to continue our trip home. This time, an accident had blocked all lanes of the interstate and according to 511, may not be cleared until 3pm. So, as you may have already read in the Santa Maria's post, we pulled a few U-turns and found an alternate route around the scene of the accident and back to our route leading home. Eventually the roads showed no more signs of ice and we were able to drive without worry. However, as our luck would have it, crossing into Delaware also brought snow, ice, and more cars spinning off the road/getting into accidents (not us!). Finally we crossed the Scudders Falls bridge into New Jersey and our van literally cheered. I love to travel and for as long as I can remember, I have never really gotten homesick, but after the constant concern about everyone's safety and my exhasustion building, I couldn't help but begin to dream about being home, comfortable and without worry.

When I walked into my front door around 10:30pm tonight, I couldn't help but to recognize the feeling of utter joy to be home that I was experiencing. And then it hit me. While I have been down to New Orleans now 5 separate times for Katrina relief work, never have I had the kind of experience like I had on this trip which made me appreciate so much what it must feel like for the residents of New Orleans to come home. After arriving in New Orleans last Sunday, we took a tour of the lower 9th ward and visited Juanita who lives in the Lower 9th. Maria, Mike Strom and myself, as well as many others, had the great privilege of working on Juanita's house this past June and July. Juanita worked with us the whole week that we were there in July and we were able to get to know her well. When the three of us showed up on her doorstep that Sunday and seen her finished home and her beaming smile, I began to get a glimpse of just how much being home can affect a person's morale, personality and overall outlook on life. Juanita went on to invite all 40 members of our group to walk through her house and see her beautiful home. You could see that she was so proud of her home that she wanted everyone to see it! While walking through, she would make comments like "I remember you worked on this wall" and other similar comments that let us know that she remembers all of the hard work that had put in and that what we had done had meant, and continues to mean, so much to her. Her smile said it all. After our "adventure" home as I like to call it, and the sense of relief that I felt walking into my house tonight, I couldn't help but to think that my sense of joy and relief is only a fraction of the joy that Juanita, and other homeowners in the New Orleans area, must feel when they are given the gift of returning to their homes. They have "traveled" through years of sorrow, disappointment, discomfort and hard work to be able to make it back to the place they call home. What an incredible gift to be able to give someone!

Without the struggles and setbacks of this trip, I don't know how much this idea really would have hit home. Only with elements out of my control keeping me from being in the comfort of my own home could help me to realize, on a much smaller scale, the frustrations that homeowners in the New Orleans area must feel, but then the great joy that they experience when they are able to return home.

All in all I feel that we had a very successful week. I am proud of every single Bonner as well as all of the non-Bonners who joined us on this trip. Even the village manager at our camp complimented our group and expressed that she was so happy we had been there that week--that they had fun with us and that they respect so much how personable we were with the other volunteers at the village. As the leader of the group at Olive Tree, this was so nice to hear. Not that I expected or thought any less of the Bonners, but it is always nice when someone else sees what you see...

More later when I have the energy...