~Beading Grandma~

Time heals all wounds they say and yet I have to believe

 All the while my heart was on trial - one phone call made me see ...

As the phone rang, I waited in anticipation until an answer, asking the one question twice, “what is your Dad’s name?” I knew, I just knew it was her. She hesitated for a moment and told me our Daddy’s' name and my heart felt such a relief. Here is the sister I tried so very hard to find! Just wondering if they were okay and how had they been doing for so long. After crying for about fifteen minutes we finally talked and boy did we! I knew it was going to be fine after that! They were safe from the wraths of Katrina! Oh how lucky we were to find them and know they are safe! We all thought the worse when the storm hit, each and everyday we worried and prayed about our two sisters so far away. Staying glued to the television - switching from channel to channel - just trying to find out something! God, thank you for your precious love. Amen.

The weather channel announced a dreadful day for the Gulf coast and surrounding areas on August 29th in 2005. It was on a Monday and I decided to search for our two sisters in New Orleans, Louisiana on the computer. It had been 24 years since we heard from Tammy Jo and Candy, our half-sisters. They lived in Westwego the last we heard after our Dad passed away September 23, 1980, Candy and her husband came here to be with us and go to the funeral. She didn't stay, she wanted to go home and be with her little boy, Raymond, her Mom and sister, Tammy.

Tammy had to stay behind because her baby was soon to be born and she couldn’t travel from Louisiana to North Carolina as the doctors advised. We knew it would be difficult to find them since it had been so very long ago. But just six days and I received the email. Oh may heart was racing and felt like it was going to beat out of my chest as I made the call to the number the NOLA.com worker had given me. This is when I knew; it is really her, my sister? Now comes the reunion of a brother and five sisters. Us four live in North Carolina and our sisters live in Alabama.

Our first reunion -

September 2006

Me (Sylvia) - Elaine - Reid - Judy - Tammy Jo