08/17/2026
During the Great Flood of 2016 life was changed drastically, nearly half of our property management business was wiped out. My kitchen turned into my war room. I was constantly on the phone trying to connect with people who could help. People who could haul out belongings, demolish homes, remove a dead horse from a yard, cut up fallen trees, move downed lines, provide supplies...In the days that followed, I learned to remove tile, demolish cabinets and sheetrock, haul carpet and eat my lunch on the curb outside of a hot house because it was dangerous to turn on the electricity. I drove to North Louisiana to get tiles only to find out my order weighed too much to drive it all home. The Home Depot worker's sister was coming to Baton Rouge the next week and she brought the rest. People helped each other and made money from each other. I learned to calculated sheetrock needs and other contractor type jobs I never thought would be in my wheelhouse. Let me tell you, the construction industry was hugely sexist. Yes, I did infact, know how to order a door thank you very much! Those were some exhausting, tear filled, scary days - and they went on and on. Ten years later as I go through my photos to share the devastation, all I see are smiling pics of my kids starting school and going to dances, of prayers and uplifting quotes, of recipes. What a reminder that every cloud has a silver lining and while those memories live in my head, I am so thankful for what I have learned and that the smiles have endured.
#2016
