I moved to New Orleans during the summer of 2003. Actually, I was only supposed to be visiting the city for the summer while taking a photography course at Loyola, but within two days of being there I knew I would be making New Orleans my home. At the time, I was subleasing an apartment from a friend who was out of state for the summer. The Uptown apartment was small, but perfect for one person and located at the end of Constance Street right on Audubon Park. How I loved those first sticky Crescent City mornings leisurely wandering around people-watching and photographing everything in sight! The city felt like a new best friend, who was aching to let me in on her deepest secrets. It was only natural that I call my parents in Lafayette, LA and request that they let me stay with my newfound friend, for there was so much she had to reveal to me!\r\n\r\nThe photography course I was taking ended up being one of my keys to the city. I met a couple of people, one native to the New Orleans, the other to NYC. They promptly took me under their steadfast wings and rapidly accelerated my introduction to the Big Easy. As fate would have it, Kristy, the New Orleans native, was in need of a roommate. We began our search.\r\n\r\nAfter viewing uncountable numbers of apartments, houses, and townhouses, we found our jewel: 1441 Constance Street. How ironic that I needed to look no farther than the street on which I was currently residing. The steely blue building rose as high as the trees in the Lower Garden District neighborhood and, though she was protected by an ominous picketed wrought iron gate, her huge front porch and second story balcony was open and inviting to us. The grandiose double-hung windows looked over us, sparkling, and teased us to come in for a closer look. I could not wait to see the intimate space beyond her prominent front door!\r\n\r\nInside the townhouse, our feet glided over the beautiful antique wood floors as we voraciously flitted from room to room, eager to see what our discovery had to offer. It was more than we could have ever dreamed! The first floor had twelve foot ceilings and consisted of two huge rooms: a living room and an unimaginable large kitchen. And, if you can believe it, the kitchen had been updated within past 5 years! There was even a nook and hook-ups for a washer and dryer. We had not seen any place previously that was within our price range that had availability for in-unit laundry! Yet another surprise was beyond what seemed to be a closet door...a half bath installed under the stacked staircase with exposed brick walls, which were original to the building! After such delights, I wondered if the second story would hold a candle to its lower half.\r\n\r\nIt did! After seeing so many shotgun buildings, in which you would have to practically crawl over your sleeping roommate to reach your own bed, I could not believe that the bedrooms upstairs were adjacent to each other and accessible by a hallway running the length of the floor. At the end of said hall was the bathroom, complete with an antique claw foot bath and shower. The larger of the two bedrooms contained an original fireplace and floor to ceiling double-hung windows that allowed you to step onto the balcony, which became my oasis and perch from which I viewed all of the happenings along Constance.\r\n\r\nOur neighbors were delightful! Right across the street in the lemon meringue colored house lived Mrs. Sophie, who you could always see steadily rocking back and forth on her cluttered porch. She always have a smile to give and I loved visiting her in the afternoons, when we would sit and watch all the activity on the street together. Then there was Mr. Jerry, who lived in the townhouse next to ours, though he was not home very often because he worked out of town. My roommate and I jokingly called him \"The Whistler,\" because we always knew when he was back in town by the sound of his slow and resonant whistle. When the hurricane came, I worried about both of them immensely.\r\n\r\nBeing from Lafayette, I did not have to travel far to get to my family. The Friday before the storm hit, I remember watching the news and being struck by the great feeling of uncertainty that everyone seemed to have about this storm. Katrina had kind of stalled out in the gulf and was rapidly gaining strength, but was giving no clear indication on when she would begin her northbound journey. I went to sleep that night knowing that the next morning I would pack some personal belongings and my dog and head west before the mass exodus occurred. Having been stuck in the Ivan evacuation, when it took me fourteen hours to reach Lafayette (the trip usually takes 2 hours!) I knew that it was better for me to get out as early as possible. Besides, it was a weekend and I could have easily made it back for class on Monday. But on Monday morning, I knew that I would not be attending classes at UNO for quite some time.\r\n\r\nI was extremely lucky. I got out early with my dog and some things that were very precious to me. I was with my family, who all reside in Lafayette and have homes, so we were by no means crowded. I was able to enroll in classes at University of Louisiana-Lafayette and my older brother even got me a job at the advertising firm for which he worked. My evacuation and the month following the storm were not very harrowing for me, although I was constantly filled with a longing to be back in my home on Constance and to feel rapture of my friend NOLA again. By the first week in October, I was heading home.\r\n\r\nI got a call from my friend and employer at the restaurant in which I worked, telling me that they were reopening and could really use my help. At that time, we were one of the very first restaurants in the city open for business. Life, much like the storm herself, was a whirlwind! The days and weeks of that time run together in a blur, but the strongest emotion that has stuck with me from that time is the unbelievable sense of camaraderie that encompassed the whole city. Most of the initial disbelief and ill-feelings had subsided and now people were just wanting to do whatever they could to bring the city back. Those last few months of 2005 taught me more about the human condition than any other experience in my life. I was sad when that phase was over and when, little by little, personal motives and politics crept back into the city like a thief in the night. I wish it would not take such a catastrophe to humble us again and to remember all that we take for granted.\r\n\r\n1441 Constance, though battered and bruised, weathered the storm with only wind and rain damage. She still stands proudly on that corner, not invincible, but her footing is strong. She knows the secret is to bend but never to break.\r\n