I suddenly realized that I had not told you how Bruce, who is my mother's boyfriend and who was in her home in Ocean Springs, survived Katrina. Here's a recap of the story you've already heard. On Monday early am, we got a call from him stating that the water was rising in the house and both vehicles were hit by a tree. We then did not hear from him again, or indeed anything out of the Ocean Springs area, until the following Thursday. At that time, he called us from Tallahassee and it turns out that he, his daughter and her friend, had managed to get one of the cars out from under the tree and drove that sucker to Tallahassee. We were simply thrilled to hear from him--he is in his 80's and no one had been able to get in to check out the Ocean Springs area and the situation seemed dire.

Since then, I have heard that his house in Long Beach, while one of the few still standing, is a lost cause. FEMA is building a fence along the railroad, which is about three blocks from the beach, to keep people from going down there. Apparently the risk of severe illness is extreme. At any rate, this means that Bruce won't be able to get to his home to make repairs for up to 6 months, leaving it open to the elements. FEMA is telling him it will be a complete write-off. We all realize that he is still very lucky to have survived, but it is sad that what Camille didn't lick in 1969 Katrina has wiped off the map.