Thursday, August 14, 2014

9 Years Later, Finally Home

I never imagined that living right next to the interstate could ever be so peaceful. The evening of the welcome home party the first thing on the agenda for Capria and I was to set some strict boundaries for Joshua and Hakeem. Letting them know that Francis Drive is our home and we have to take care of it by being gentle with the structure and keeping ourselves and the furniture clean. First question was...what is the structure? So maybe I should have just kept it simple.

That night we stayed up late walking around as if the house was a museum. It had not yet settled in that this was where we were going to be living. After all, only one of us had ever lived in this house before.  I for one stared at the energy efficient light bulbs in the ceiling with thoughts of all the folks who made it happen. 

The boys absolutely love it that they have a space without daddy all up in their business...for now that is.  As a family we have watched television maybe a total of four hours since we have been here - I love it. It allows the boys to become creative with all the new things "Da Design Angels" put in place for them.  We have made it our own with projects outside the house, although that's been short lived with all of our schedules colliding. It seems all the work put in by SBP leaves me with nothing to try and fix. Clothes are how everyone has seemed to personalize the house. I'm sad to report that pictures remain in the electronics that store them, but we did purchase a new mailbox online! It's been sitting for 2 weeks - lacking the time to properly put it up. 


Harold's Family - Thanks Lexie Cole Photography!

We spend time together preparing meals and actually sitting down at the dinner table talking and making funny faces. The dining room has been one of the most consistently used areas for homework and food.  SBP thank you so much for everything. The work is so professionally executed. Had it not been for SBP, I would have never met the awesome volunteers from across the country to make this project a reality for my family. SBP provided the framework for us to live and The Design Angels supplied us with the tools we needed to succeed. We’re all so organized from the specific furniture pieces they put in the house.

Marriage is awesome with my best friend. We learned we are both clean fanatics!

It means so much to be back in this neighborhood. There's a quiet movement of people that care just as much as I think I do: the house around the corner that was falling is torn down; other folks are working to reestablish their homes on our street; the council person for the area asked if I could come up with some initiatives for our part of the city improvement process. 

SBP THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP! I'M SURE THE REST OF THE CITY CAN ECHO THAT PRAISE!


To help SBP bring more families like the Bailey’s home, spread the word that there is still work to be done! Please consider donating online at www.stbernardproject.org/donate or by mailing a check to 8324 Parc Place, Chalmette, LA 70043

Thank you to Event Pros Take Action and Rentals Unlimited for making this dream for the Bailey Family come true!!

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