Just a few weeks before Rita hit, I had been donating clothing, toys, and other things to victims of Katrina that passed through the small city of Vidor, Tx where we lived. I talked and cried along with some families that passed through. One family in particular really touched me. It was 2 sisters from New Orleans with their children. Their mother and some other family members had been in the Superdome and they still didn\'t know where they had been sent or if they were even ok. It just hurt me so bad to think about losing everything you have worked to have and to not know where your family is. Little did I know that just a few weeks later my family would go through a similar situation. Like many others, we had been told to evacuate before only to come home to sunshine and no damage whatsoever. We considered not leaving until we were given a mandatory evacuation. We left and went too Leesville, La where my in laws had asked us to drive them. We ended up being there for a week with no electricity and were finally allowed to go home to see the damage. The entire apartment complex we had called home was destroyed. We lost everything we had!! I cried and was just devastated. But through it all, I strongly believe we were blessed. We are doing so much better than we even were before because it gave us the opportunity to start over anew. Grant it, we were stuck in a hotel in Galveston, Tx for 2 months, but overall we are so blessed. We now live in Beaumont and I am not looking forward to the upcoming hurricane season. We are doing well now, but I hope to never, ever go through anything like this again. God Bless everyone who has lost family, friends and your homes due to these devastating storms.