Today I was on the fourth floor,
they called it 'aid and comfort'.

"Just walk around and make sure
everyone has what they need.."

.. . ... . ..

After the eighth time
of walking up and down 3 stories,
I noticed that I sighed from being tired.

I quickly realized how selfish I was,
once a little boy walked in front of me, barefoot.

He looked around,
like he was looking for something.

"Whatcha need, baby?"

He turned and glanced up at me,
beautiful brown cow eyes full of hope.

"some shoes...?"

I furrowed my brows and grabbed his hand,
"Follow me."

I lead him past the crowd of people
lining up
for various items of clothing to be handed to them..

Showed the gatekeeper my armband,
and walked past a boy my age..
his voice trailing off as I walked to the back..
"Ya'll have any like camoflauge pants?"

We walked past volunteeers sorting through
clothing..

The shoe rack was desolate
and full of mismatched high heels.

The little boy let go of my hand and grabbed
a pair of boy's dress shoes.

Still shiny but clearly used,
he sat down and tried them on..

I found a pair of sneakers that seemed his size,
and crouched in front of him,
showing him the glittery stripes..

"Too girly, yeah?"

He laughed and nodded apologetically.

I smirked and began searching again,
without hope in the pile of women's high heels.

"They run a little small, but they'll work."

He smiled and stood up,
twisting his ankles to show me his new shoes.

I smiled and said,
"That's all you need?"

He quietly asked if I could help him
find a white shirt..

We passed up the used clothing
and went to the section with new items that were donated.

I found two brand new men's small white t-shirts
and held them up to him..

"These work, sweets?"

"Yes, ma'am. Those are perfect."

Leading him back to the gate,
I grabbed some socks for him and turned to him,
reaffirming that he had all he needed..

"Maybe i could find some nice pants?"

I grinned and dragged him back to the boy's pants section..

Five pairs later,
we found a nice pair of blue slacks
that were a little too long
but he liked them a lot.

I lead him back out the gate and past the crowd..

Crouched down and smiled at him..

"Now, go show your mother your new shoes, baby."

Before smiling and quickly running off,

"Thanks.. Now I have church clothes.."

.. . ... . ..

"You need any clothes,
underwear,
toiletries?"

She frowned slightly,
and leaned her hand on my arm..

"You know, I guess I never thought about underwear..
I didn't grab any from my house because..
Well.
I guess you just don't realize that you won't be
able to go back home soon and grab all the stuff
that you left..."

.. . ... . ..

I passed three teenage girls
sitting up on cots..

"Hey, ya'll doing ok?"

They nodded..

"Ya'll don't need anything?"

They glanced at each other..
and one lifted her head..

"What do you mean 'anything'?"

I hadn't really prepared for that response,
as I wasn't sure if it was a doorway
to someone voicing that they need back their home,
their family,
their belongings..


their life.

"Clothes, food, water.. anything I can get."

She smiled and said "I need some pants, actually.."

And her girlfriends chimed in
needing clothes as well.

Asking their size,
the already proven brave one laughed..

"I think i lost weight.. I'm about a five or a seven?"

And another nodded,
"Me too."

I looked to the last of the three,
and she lowered her head and quietly said something
that I couldn't make out..

"What size, darlin?"

"Well, I'm like a 13."

Her friends laughed
"You're not a 13! You're not that big!"

She looked down at herself,
"Yeah, I am, girl."

The other two got quiet..
 
"I'm a 13 too, babe. I'll see what i can get for ya'll..
I'll be right back."

After another trip to the first level and back,
I managed to round up a dozen shirts
and pants for the girls,
along with some toiletries and handbags.

I gave them the clothing
and they thanked me...

It wasn't until I handed them
deodorant
that they all stood up and hugged me.

"oh, girl.. god bless you."

.. . ... . ..

The Louisiana area code 504 doesn't work,
no calls get through,
only text messages..

So, I text messaged her daughter,
whom she hadn't heard from for three or four days.

They got seperated somewhere between the
hurricane and the levees breaching.

Within 15 minutes,
an excited woman screamed in my ear
about 'some text she got'.

I've never realized
visual
c o m p l e t e
happiness
until today.

I still smell that woman
that hugged me for literally ten
minutes,
sobbing happily in my neck.





Please,
keep in touch with your loved ones,
even if you can't...

find a way.

...

And treasure that damn deodorant.


























 

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