Saturday, September 24th

It’s 10:00 AM on Saturday.  We’re up and moving slowly, had breakfast and coffee in the lobby and watched CNN on the lobby TV.  While at breakfast I called my daughter-in-law (she’s the only early riser among the kids) to find out how everyone fared.  She said they had some wind, but not too bad, and only occasional light rain.  She did mention that they seem to lose power every night and get it back about 6 hours later, almost as if it’s being turned off and back on on a schedule.  Everyone is fine who stayed in New Orleans.  We are so very thankful that we were spared any more damage, but once again our hearts go out to those whose homes are in the 9th Ward, where more flooding is occurring.

As I mentioned earlier in the week, we again went to Holy Spirit for their “Wednesday Suppers”.  As luck would have it we sat at a table with a Memphis couple who had lived there for 5 years but who were originally from NJ.  We, of course, are from NY.  Another family was there, from Metairie, LA who were originally from NY, also.  The Metairie family was leaving the next day for Nacogdoches, TX.  This morning during the Hurricane Rita report the newscaster mentioned that Rita was down to a Cat 1 storm in the vicinity of Nacogdoches!  Please, join me in praying that that family evacuated again and is safe!

Lake Charles, LA seems to have taken a beating from Rita.  I guess Mother Nature isn’t finished with LA yet.  Hopefully no more hurricanes this season will take aim at the Gulf coast or  the LA and TX coastline.

For those who know him, we heard yesterday from Fr. Deo.  He returned to Rome from his Italian immersion program somewhere in rural Italy, has a room of his own and is enjoying the food served at the university there.  His Italian is progressing, though he says he can understand it better than he can speak it, which is normal.  He’s here in the States for a couple of days to attend a wedding, then he’ll go back to Rome.

As always, we appreciate and continue to ask for your thoughts and prayers for us, our families and friends and for all those touched in any way by Katrina and/or Rita.  These disasters offer us opportunities to grow closer to God and to each other if we only take the time to look for them.

Take care, my friends, and may God bless you all!

Dean