"You're one of us now"

[haikugal]

2. In addition to the comments above...

Culture shock, PTSD and axiety/depression...coupled with substance abuse and cancer without adequate healthcare....everything just piles on. I feel for everyone in this article. In such a small community with little to offer young people or adults, really they had good intentions but damn. We really need to do better than this.

I read through the comments on this piece and that's an education in itself. I moved from the bay area in CA to a little berg outside Harrisburg PA in the 80's and I've experienced the culture shock and feeling that I'll never belong...but my son grew up here and he does belong. It's the nature of things in small towns but it can be lonely sometimes. That is less true now that there is the internet but back before the internet it was sometimes overwhelming.

My heart goes out to this family and all the other families that were torn apart by Katrina.

Thanks for posting this.