We didn't just influence a family, we influenced an entire community

Greetings from Bay St. Louis,
            We all woke up today sadly realizing that our last day of work has come, as well as Jermaine's (one of the americorps workers). We started off our day as usual, eating breakfast and heading off to our house. (Of course, it wouldn't be a usual workday without Sean hastily running to the vans becuase of his tardiness). Arriving at our well-constructed home on Union Street , we reunited with our fellow workers (Josh and Ishaan) and everyone swiftly picked up a brush and finished painting the siding. During the morning there were a lot of smiles, jokes and laughs all around the work site. We went back to our home for the week, St. Augustine's, for lunch with our two new best friends, Josh and Ishaan. When we returned to the work site we all got together to get a few group pictures before getting back to painting the house. We grabbed our brushes and were ready to finally finish the last coat and last minute touches to the trim. Some others jobs that were done during day were cleaning up the yard around the house, organizing & painting the shed and cleaning up the brushes. After baking in the hot sun, we all have the funniest tan lines. Then we went to the quaint little shops in down town BSL, it was great to talk to all the locals and hear thier stories of Katrina. They explained how much Katrina changed their lives and here is just one of the stories that touched our hearts.

"The Story" By: Shane Farrell
Sylvia, the owner of an antique shop in  Bay Saint Louis, told Josh and me this very intriguing story yesterday.
After Katrina, there was a group of volunteers at the Baptist Church down the street from the shop. There was a group of teens volunteering there. Their job was to go to houses that had been destroyed and clean up the rubble and check on the people. They were given the address of the house they were to work on that day. They went to the house and they saw the elderly couple who owned the house sitting on the front porch in rocking chairs holding hands.  The couple didn't say anything to the group all day. They just watched them all work. When they were about to leave, the old man approached the chaperone of the group. He said to him "Thank you for saving us." The chaperone just looked at the old man kind of confused. The man continued saying "My wife and I decided last night that we were going to commit suicide today because we have no children and lost everything we own." The chaperone was shocked and tried to keep himself together. They proceeded to go back to the church and log their hours at the address. While they were there, the person in charge came over and noticed that they were logging in.  Then they realized that the group had GONE TO THE WRONG ADDRESS!!! Chills ran up mine and Josh's spine. Honestly, I could have balled my eyes out in front of this lady.  It still gives me the shakes to share this story with you now. Really makes you think doesn't it...?

Much love to our family and friends, can't wait to see you all soon
Tara & Brooke