Miss Donna

Sorry I haven’t been posting much lately, but, my mind has been whirling these last couple weeks, and there are many things going on that have distracted me.

I heard it snowed as far south as Mississippi….I’ve been thinking about Miss Donna, who’s house we worked on in Mississippi. She is a wonderful lady, who works 9 to 5, and lives in a pretty large house with her wiener dog named Molly (sooooo cute!). Her house is full of stuff…wall to wall, floor to ceiling! There are boxes and furniture and clothes in every room but her bedroom and kitchen.

It’s not that she’s a pack-rat…but that her neighbors and friends needed a place to store their belongings after Katrina. She has plenty of room, so she’s let people store their stuff at her house. She is a kind compassionate person reaching out to her neighbors…didn’t even have to think twice!

Her house still needs weather stripping done around the windows, and some boards around the window replaced, that’s probably the main thing, but there are lots of smaller jobs to get that house repaired. Since she lives further inland, she didn’t get the water damage that they got along the coast, but the high winds from the hurricane kicked up a few tornados, and that’s what caused the most damage.

The area is beautiful farm land, and everyone along the road knows everyone and keeps an eye out...Miss Donna lives at the end of the road, which is named after her father-in-law. As I looked around I realized what that saying “Land rich, and cash poor” really meant! She may not have all the funds she needs to do all the projects, but she sure is rich with friends and family. She’s got family living “just up the road apiece” , including her parents, so she can see them and watch her grandson, Kinley, grow up. He’s about 10, and way into Sponge Bob…something we had in common!

Her best friend Cynthia invited us over to dinner one night as a way to thank us for helping their friend. She brought us red beans and rice one day for lunch…and the last day Miss Donna cooked us Gumbo and fresh greens, sweet potatoes and Mexican cornbread!

We didn’t starve that week, is what I’m saying!

We did work hard for that week….here, some of the photographic evidence….

Every morning before she went off to work, Miss Donna would write us these short letters in a notebook. One letter in particular got us a little choked up:

“….As I reflect on what you’ve given me, words still cannot express my feelings as my heart burst and overflows with joy. I look forward to spending more time with y’all, I will be home on Thursday and Friday…”

Then at the end, in a slightly more excited hand, one more paragraph…

“You are a fresh breath of life to me. Renewed hope. New life. I hadn’t realized that Katrina had worn me down to a frazzle. I did not know that I was so depressed…Have a Blessed day!”

A few of us have been keeping in contact with her by phone and email and snail mail. It seems like there haven’t been any volunteers showing up since we left, plus she’s a little low on funds for the various projects, so I know she’s feeling a little down.

But she holds on to God and to her family, and Molly of course, and she presses on!

Ralphie