One year ago...

Some of you may have not heard our story of the hurricane and some of you have but I would like to share it again. This week I have thought about Gustav more than I would like to.

It was Mon., Sept. 1,2008, and a big storm by the name of Gustav was making his way to the gulf coast. It was Labor Day and at 10:30 that morning I was watching the Wiggles with Cayden for the last time in a few days and he had no idea what was about to take place...nobody did! The electricity went off and the storm was approaching with force. We got our handy little radio out to listen to updates and Cayden thought that was the coolest thing...a box where you heard people talking from. Throughout the next 2 hours we had up to 90 m/h winds. We watched the entry to our living room fill up with water within a blink of an eye, our fence that Aaron had built fall to the ground, and trash (our trash) flying through the air. A house behind us had its garage door ripped off into pieces, we heard a tree crash into a lady's yard across the road, and all we or anyone could do was watch it happen. We lived on the west side of Baton Rouge and the storm was passing completely over us headed down I-10 to Lafayette. We were getting calls (from the cell phones) from our family and Dow but the phones lines were so overloaded you couldn't get through. As soon as it was clear Aaron got out and started helping others pick up pieces of siding to all the houses and making sure we had all of ours accounted for to put them back up. It was a true experience to say the least what we saw and went through. We drove around later and looked at all the devastation our little town went through. The weather broadcasters did not expect Gustav to take a turn and hit Baton Rouge like it did. Oh yeah, let me mention I am 32 weeks pregnant through all of this.

Minutes turned into hours and we could see there was no way we were getting electricity for at least a week and most likely longer. Aaron got called out to go to work to get problems worked out at the plant but he didn't want to leave me pregnant and a small child at home with no electricity. That night wasn't so bad because the house was still cool from the storm and the sun never came out that afternoon to heat things up. Now by no means was it comfortable. I slept in the room with Cayden on the air mattress and he didn't sleep well but who could blame him. He cried and I cried with him. The next day it started to heat up and we were starting to sweat. It was so humid! Cayden was the best little trooper through it all...I was so proud of him! Aaron had to go back to work and I took Cayden in the car for some a/c and he took a little nap. I couldn't go too far because I knew I needed to save the gas we had for the unexpected. Aaron's boss at work offered him a small--VERY SMALL generator but we took what he had. It was able to get us a fan running and keep our deep freezer running for a while. This generator had to be filled with gas ever 1.5 hours...that let's you know how small it was. We somehow made it through the day and I was dreading for it to turn dark because that meant we had to try and sleep in this condition. We had the doors open both front and back to let somewhat of a breeze come through. We had 2 air mattresses in the living room floor where we all slept that night. All you could hear was the humming of generators throughout the neighborhood and mosquitoes in your ear. I got up throughout the night to fill up the generator because I didn't want the fans to stop working. All I could think about was my sweet Cayden getting hot and trying to keep the mosquitoes away from him.

Wed. morning came and it was so unbelievably miserable. Aaron headed off to work and Cayden and I were again stuck at home with each other to look at. Cayden was covered in so many mosquito bites that I broke...I had somewhat of an idea what people went through with Katrina. We were only 2 days past the storm and I was feeling like I was trapped in a box with no way out. Again...32 weeks pregnant!

Aaron's sweet boss told him to call me and send me and Cayden on the road to north LA for electricity. The conditions were not good for us to be in and Aaron needed to be at work. I packed everything that I could possibly get into my explorer and I started out for my parents' house. For the next few days Aaron worked, ate, and slept at Dow. As Cayden and I drove north we got to Natchez and there were signs of life. I filled the car up with gas and we ate at Sonic...the best food I had eaten in days. For the next several days I was enjoying the a/c and hot water and Aaron was working at Dow until...the unexpected happened...stay tuned:)