To best understand my Katrina story, one must first have a tiny bit of background story. In July 2005, my mother fell 3 stories and landed on a cement staircase. She suffered multiple fractures from her feet to her skull and nearly died. She was still recovering from the first reconstructive surgeries when the evacuation order came. Obviously she couldn\'t evacuate herself. Of my two younger sisters, Carleigh had duty in the National Guard in Mississippi and Candice was in the 8th grade. It fell on me to ensure both Candice and my mother\'s safety. We packed up what we needed, including our lab, Chocolate, and headed West. \r\n\r\nAunt Patty, Mom\'s youngest sister, lived in Sweeny, Texas, an hour or so South of Houston. The 16-hour drive with a teenager and a severely injured parent took its toll on me. We stayed in Texas, with plans for continuing Mom\'s surgeries and physical therapy at University of Texas Medical Branch. However, Louisiana Workman\'s Comp said they would not pay for any of it unless we came back to Louisiana. Considering that we had just finished evacuating for Rita, in the process of which our dog was struck and killed by a car, we resigned to comply. \r\n\r\nBack in Louisiana, we discovered a paucity of Surgeons and Neurologists who could or would help mom. The result was that she received sub-par follow-up surgeries, and missed her window for physical therapy. For the rest of her life, she would function at 15% her normal functionality. \r\n\r\nNow for the silver lining:\r\n\r\nAnother result of Katrina was the evacuation of New Orleans businesses, such as Copy.doc. They were a local-run competitor of companies like Kinko\'s. They needed to restaff in New Orleans and brought two employees down from Baton Rouge. Tara, the production manager, came to eat one night at the bar where I was temporarily working. Four years later we are happily living together and the future looks bright...