Yesterday, Ray and I were driving in the Lower 9th Ward. Most of the blocks in this particular area have 1, maybe 2 people who have moved back. Some of the houses still need gutting. Basically, this neighborhood is dead right now. We saw a house completely boarded up. The board that covered the front door had spray painted on it “Not for sale at any price! I’m staying put!”. Other signs in the area show that the people in this area want to return but just aren’t able to yet.
The house that affected me most though had a large American Flag prominently displayed on the front of the house. There clearly was no one living in this house and the flag was very faded from the sun. I don’t see very many American flags in front yards here, while at home I see them quite frequently. The way that this flag was tied onto the front of the house it looked so proudly displayed. I thought about what the flag might mean to this home owner. I thought about how much pride he has in being an American, about how much faith he has in America, about how he loves our nation. He has all this faith in the American spirit and American has let him down. How’s that for patriotism?
When will our patriotic spirit and our call to be more patriotic include helping our fellow American when they have lost everything?
Marte P.