Oh, New Orleans

New Orleans was where minastir was born, where his family is from. So my first experience of the city was a bit different. It was not the party experience for me. He took me down there after we got engaged so I could meet his grandparents on both sides of the family. I've been there since for a wedding, two funerals, and probably other occasions that I'm forgetting right now. I've been reading the news and the commentaries and oh dear God it hurts to see what's happening.

No, it's not where he finished growing up, and I don't think that our path would ever have taken him back there, but it's still where he started from, still part of him and of his family. Yes, they all got out okay and are all safe, which is a lot better than many. But the memories tied into the places, that is what hurts to think about and realize that those places are gone forever. And realizing that the bodies of the men laid to rest at those funerals may be in the water and lost...