Story Teller but I Am Finding It Hard to Put the Magnitude of Everything I

Hello everyone!

Thank you for all of your well wishes and prayers. Allen and I are home safe

and to say the least forever changed. Many of you know that I am quite the

story teller but I am finding it hard to put the magnitude of everything I

saw into words. It was devastating, heroic, horrifying and to me showed the

true spirit of Americans. Stop and imagine for a minute, an event happens

whether it be natural like the storm or biological and all you have is what

you have on you right now and IF YOUR LUCKY.... your family!!!! It does not

matter that you have money because ATM's do not work and ALL the stores are

destroyed. You are alone! Choices: live or die. These people in Waveland

Mississippi chose to live! They migrated to familiar places like Wal-Mart

and K-Mart and lived in the parking lot in whatever every means they could

find to survive until help arrived. American ingenuity shined here! Some had

tents some used sheets of wood and tin blown from buildings or houses. They

even elected a mayor of "tent city" in the K-Mart parking lot. The most

creative, I have to say is the family that found a port-a-potty, sat a air

conditioner unit on top of it with the lid of the potty off to catch the

condensation from the AC unit and had indoor ac in the tent.

I was fortunate enough to take a ride with a local minister who showed me

"ground zero". The water front property, million dollar homes, were reduced

to slab foundations and what trees were left were littered with clothing

like a demented version of an apocalyptic Christmas. The scattered people

that were still there sat on the slabs that were probably their homes with

the look of total disbelief. But even through all the devastation the one

symbol that repeated itself without fail was the one that brought the most

pride to my heart. The AMERICAN FLAG! The people had NOTHING but some- howthey found their flags and hung them in trees or on poles or tied them to

rocks. They were torn and tattered, beaten but not out of the game. Just

like the people of Waveland Mississippi.

I am so fortunate to have gone on this mission and met these people. There

are so many more stories to tell but Allen and I had a rough week and alot

of unpacking to do. I just wanted to tell all of you we are back and doing

well (but will probably never be the same).

Thank you to everyone for keeping us in you thoughts and prayers.

Allen and Nancy Pate, OnslowCounty