It was my very first week in college. I\'d left a week before the storm to attend Southeastern Lousisina University. During the time in Hammond my cares and thoughts were completely consumed with what am I going to wear to class or which party was I going to next; never knowing about what was brewing in the gulf. Reality soon set in when I arrived home for the first time in 7 whole days of being on my own. We set down to a normal dinner of fried catfish and potatoes, a known meal to many New Orleanians. At one point during my meal my grandmother asked, \"well baby what do you think about this storm that\'s coming,\" embarassed I asked, which one? So my mother turned the news on and to my horror I saw what lay before us, a monster! So the whole day I talked of how great college was, I even washed the two loads of clothes that I managed to dirty in a few days time. Later that night my family said \"we may have to leave\". Coming from a mom and dad that always left I figured, this is the usual road trip! Well not all my family thought this way, I come from a background of people that stayed home in their two story homes and waited the storm out, or the ones that said if it gets bad we will go to the superdome. Well I think God must have put it in all of their minds that this was one not to be taking lightly. So on the morning of August 29, about 5am we all got up and got dressed. Knowing that this was a routine trip I left my freshly washed clothes my prom dressed that I adored so much and my life as I knew it. We drove and drove, hours upon hours and ended our trip in Grenada, Mississippi. My family went their seperate ways to Texas, where they now reside. The people were very nice to us, they understood and was very caring. We met some really cool New Orleanians, we all told our stories. Our stories were great but none are better than those that were left behind. Im now back in the city, staying in our second home that was covered by water, twelve feet to be exact. Our home that we were staying in was under I believe they said atleast thirteen feet, can you imagine, I can\'t and I watched the news everyday. I don\'t like to cry over spilled milk, but what else is it that I can do when nothing is the same anymore. Katrina left a spoiled taste in my mouth as well as others, I guess the lesson here is that material things fade, but lives don\'t.