The Longbow Papers

Soon I will post pictures of the wrath that Katrina visited upon the Bosco family, stretching from Jefferson Parish in Louisiana to Jackson County in Mississippi. At this moment, though, I'd like to share with you more images of the Bosco family before Katrina.

I will also update family news. The biggest and best news is that I have talked directly with Sylvia, my absolutely irrepressible sister, via cell phone, twice!

Sylvia, Mom, and my niece Reagan were in Ocean Springs during the storm and, as it turns out, for more than a week thereafter. They stayed with a family friend whose house is on some of the highest ground in Gulf Hills; my steadfast nephew Chris drove up to Ocean Springs from Orlando, Florida, almost immediately in a truck toting a generator.

On the fourth day of Katrina, Sylvia was finally able to cut her way to 509 Beach Drive and see what to both of us is the greatest nightmare possible: the historic old home is gone; there is a crater where the living room used to be; the several hundred-years-old oak tree in the front yard not only came down it disappeared.

After days of picking through the rubble of our memories, with everything shutdown, they finally got away and went to Orlando to stay with Chris until things improved enough for their return. They are there now.

However, the Ocean Springs school system just announced it's planning on going back to business on the 26th of this month (September). Consequently, Sylvia will soon return to Ocean Springs, where she teaches at the high school from which we both graduated a millenium or two ago (Sylvia and I are only 22 months apart in age) and stay with a family friend until at least one home can be rebuilt.

My son Joseph, his wife Michelle, his mother Linda Bosco, Pat and Allen Mocklin (Michelle's parents) are still in Dallas, Texas, staying with Linda's sister and brother-in-law. It turns out that the Mocklin's home in New Orleans had only minor flooding, Linda's house in Algiers, and Joseph's and Michelle's brand new condo in the trendy warehouse district of uptown New Orleans, had no damage at all.

For whatever cosmic reason, it was the Mississippi branch of the Bosco family that suffered the most grievous harm; all told, six family homes were destroyed in Ocean Springs and Pascagoula.

Sylvia and Mom, 4th of July, 2004
Linda watching our son Joseph and his bride Michelle coming down the aisle at their wedding
Joseph and Michelle coming down the aisle
Joseph dancing with his mother
Joseph and Michelle dancing

 

12:17 PM / Editor / permalink    4 comments

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4 Comments:

Some Great News From New Orleans!!

"We didn't lose as many lives as had been predicted although we're still in the process of finding those we lost," said Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco.

The death toll looks to be far below what was once feared!!

Very good news for everyone ------ except the democrats...

By  The Truth Teller, at 2:06 PM  

I should make that a "Large D" democrat

By  The Truth Teller, at 9:33 PM  

What, pray tell, is a "Large D" democrat?

Thanks for dropping in and taking the time to leave a comment.

Joseph Bosco

By  Joseph, at 11:01 AM  

A small "d" democrat is a somebody who is a member of a democracy (not practiced in China). A large "D" Democrat is a member of a political party in the United States who is usually very angry, does not accept personal responsiblity and who now wishes the death tolls in Louisiana and Iraq were larger because they hate President Bush (and still don't believe he has been elected twice).

By  The Truth Teller, at 11:06 PM  

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