Charlotte Hausfield

The month of September holds a lot of family events for us. There are a lot of birthdays in September. My father, my mother, my sister, my husband and my grandson – all with birthdays in September! There are also some very sad days in September. My father passed away just a couple days before his 55th birthday. The attack on NYC and the World Trade Center was in September. And now my brother in law has passed away. It was sudden and not expected at all. He was only 53.

So this month carries a lot of emotions with it for my family. I guess we always have to take the bad with the good, and this month is an extreme example of that.

Thank goodness hurricane Gustav did little damage as it was quickly downgraded from a hurricane to just a tropical storm when it hit land today. The hurricane actually centered on an area to the west of New Orleans and the city was spared from the flooding and damages.

The Mayor says for everyone to please stay away for a day or two so they can get the electricity restored – over a million homes are without power due to the wind and rain.

Thank goodness New Orleans listened to the warnings and evacuated, and the damage was not extensive. So these good people can return home soon and continue rebuilding their beautiful city.