The entire family was in South Carolina at Fort Jackson watching one of my brothers graduate from basic training when Hurricane Katrina decided to leave a trail of carnage across the Gulf Coast. For a moment, a moment that felt like years but actually lasted weeks, everything was suspended in the air. It was as if our homes, our lives, were all the fine china neatly spread out across an elaborate dinner table and at once the table cloth was swiftly pulled out from underneath all the glass wear. Pause. Nothing moved for weeks, we all just sat watching with our mouths hung open and our eyes refusing to blink. We all wondered the same thing. Will everything land in its original place unharmed or will everything break into millions of tiny pieces?\r\n\r\n When we were finally able to return to our home, we were the only ones on our street without water damage. The tree house survived! Initially we wanted to jump for joy but that was impossible. Everywhere we looked there was damage. We were lucky because our house was raised and the water only reached ten feet. Our neighbors weren\'t so lucky. Our community was in pieces. Quickly, with strength and perseverance, our community pulled itself together. Everyone seemed to be helping everyone. I spent evenings helping neighbors I had never even spoken to before. Although, our levees failed us, our government failed us, and our insurance companies failed us, we would not fail each other. For that reason and many others, there is no other place I would rather call home. \r\n\r\n\r\n \r\n