After leaving the Gulf Coast portion of the country behind following Hurricane Katrina, Grace and Melanie Hall said that they feel right at home in Boone. Photo by Mark Mitchell As Grace Hall prepares dinner, Melanie has a little fun with the bubbles in the sink. Photo by Mark Mitchell What A Long, Strange Trip It’s Been New Orleans’ Area Family Rides Out Roller-Coaster Trip Called Life By Mark Mitchell Editor’s Note: The following is the third in a three-part series which will tell the stories of three New Orleans’ families displaced to the High Country following Hurricane Katrina. With Thanksgiving approaching, these stories will also delve into what they are still thankful for, despite their hardships of the past 12 weeks. Have you ever been asked, what’s new in your life? Often times this question is followed by the response of not a lot. Chances are, Grace Hall would not pick those three words to answer the question. Why? Because since June of this year, Hall has gone through enough ups and downs to satisfy a lifetime. A separation from her husband, weekdays without her daughter, traffic jams to escape Mother Nature, riding out Hurricane Katrina in what she describes as a bomb shelter, losing her place of residence and job, finding a job and realizing a 20-year dream of living in Boone, fuel mishaps leading to car problems, the search for a Magic Fairy, sadness, despair and thankfulness have all been part of the adventure Hall has called life since the summer of 2005. “It’s certainly been a roller-coaster ride,” said a smiling Hall as she relaxed in her donated Boone apartment. “It’s been one of the toughest times in my life. The only time that was worst was when I lost my mother.” To tell the story of Hall’s life during this turbulent period, it is necessary to go back in time to the aforementioned month of June when she and her husband Mel separated. The couple was living in Bogalusa, LA at the time, and with the separation, Hall landed a job and moved to Slidell, LA. Her husband, a teacher in Poplarville, MS, and her daughter, Melanie, had previously commuted to Poplarville where Melanie also went to school. Not wanting to take her daughter out of a school system and friends she was happy with, Hall made the decision to let Melanie continue to attend school in Poplarville once the school year began. After spending the remainder of the summer with Hall in Slidell, Melanie began living with her father in his mother’s home, where he had previously moved. Only living 45 minutes away from each other, Hall and Melanie spent each weekend together. While this period was indeed a trying time, just a few weeks later, any semblance of normality went out the window with the ferocious winds, rain and storm surge of Hurricane Katrina. “It was actually Mel who called me and informed me of the serious nature of the storm,” Hall said. “At the time, I hadn’t planned on leaving my home. I’ve heard other people from New Orleans say this before, but it’s true, ever since childhood you hear what could happen if a major storm hit the area, but it had never happened and you almost become numb to the danger.” On Saturday, two days before Katrina struck, Hall packed an overnight bag and went to stay at her aunt’s home in Mandeville. While only 30 minutes away, Hall described her aunt’s home as a bomb shelter, and would later say that the home was so secure that the experience of riding out Katrina was actually boring. After spending Saturday night in Mandeville, Hall realized the devastation Katrina could bring to her home in Slidell and returned to load up as much of her belongings as possible. The normal half-hour return trip to Mandeville, however, took more than two hours as traffic, coupled with deteriating weather conditions, took its toll. While Hall rode out Katrina in one state, Melanie and her father endured the hurricane back in Mississippi. “We could feel the walls shaking where I was,” Melanie remarked. “A tree fell on the house, and at one point while closing the front door, I got sucked out a few feet. There was definitely more action with my dad.” A few days later, mother and daughter were reunited in Mandeville. With the secure home in Mandeville quickly filling with other relatives and friends, the duo headed to Shreveport, LA to stay with a cousin. It was there where Hall gained access to the Internet, and there where the first steps to a new life were taken. “I had always dreamed of living in the mountains of North Carolina, specifically Boone,” Hall said. “I had visited there for years, and just fell in love with the place. I’ve been a schoolteacher virtually my whole life, and even my students in Louisiana knew my dream. They would even come back to school to visit and say ”:I can’t believe you are still here.” As if by fate, the dream began to fall into place when I friend helped Hall land a job teaching at Wilkes Central High School. With a chance to finally make the big move, but with no furnishings, home or resources to currently utilize, Hall typed in Boone, NC Katrina Victims, only to find fate once again ready to lend a helping hand. “Right away, I saw an offer I couldn’t believe,” said Hall. “A couple in Boone offered my daughter and I the chance to live for free in Boone. All of a sudden, I had a job and a place to live in the one town I most wanted to call home.” It was then that Hall and her daughter returned to Mandeville to get their affairs in order, followed by a subsequent trip to Hall’s home in Slidell to survey the damage. “The worst problem I saw was looting,” Hall said. “Some kitchen appliances and other items were stolen. Mold was growing all over the walls, and I found out they were going to tear down the complex except for the foundation.” Just when all signs seemed to be pointing north to Boone, two roadblocks made Hall question whether to chase her dream. “Melanie had become depressed about leaving her father,” Hall said, “and then my vehicle broke down because I mistakenly put diesel in my tank. It just seemed like a couple of signs were telling me not to go. I remember writing the couple in Boone and telling them that I wish I had a magic fairy to tell me what to do.” Nevertheless, the mother and daughter duo did eventually hit the road for North Carolina, and now that they are here, both say they have no plans to ever live in the Gulf Coast portion of the country again. “We will probably never return,” said Hall. “We both love it up here.” While both Grace and Melanie said they do not miss anything about Bogalusa, a place Melanie referred to as Stinktown because of town’s paper mill, Grace did say she was saddened by the fate New Orleans has suffered. “The culture and art of New Orleans is fantastic,” Hall remarked. “Even though I’m happy I got to realize my dream, I’m sad that New Orleans was hurt.” As high as Hall’s praise was for New Orleans, it went even higher for the couple who donated the apartment where she and Melanie are currently living, Marie and Virgil Freeman. “They have been angels,” Hall gushed. “They have helped us in even more ways than the apartment. They furnished the apartment, helped with information, and even put a $100 bill in a drawer for emergencies. I am so thankful for them.” As the interview reached its final moments, Hall said that despite the trials and tribulations of the past few months, she had many things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. “I have a long list,” Hall said as she laughed. “The Freemans, Melanie, the nice neighbors I’ve met, the great teachers I’ve met at my new school, the wonderful generosity so many people have shown me, and of course, the chance to finally realize the dream of living in Boone.”