Katrina! Katrina!

We've heard the stories of Katrina and the other hurricanes devastating Mexico, the Carribean and parts of the USA South. But there's another Katrina, who has a story too. She sat at Enterbeing last month and told a story of hope and courage and healing.

Katrina is eleven. A year ago her two year old brother died. She brought pictures of him as well as the folder from his memorial service. She also brought photographs she had taken as part of her healing process at the Dougy Center. Accompanied by her mom and an AmeriCorp Volunteer who has helped with the photography project at Dougy Center, Katrina sat in the circle and told her story, pointing to the photos on the wall as she spoke.

"This one, I like, because it's the Dougy Center, and I got so much out of going there--and look how the light is shining on top of the roof--it looks like heaven is shining on it. That's the way I feel about the Dougy Center, that it is a part of heaven." Then her finger would point around the circle of the photographs on the wall as if she were showing us a photo album in her own living room--"this one's my goat--see how gruff he looks?--he's not really..." "I took this one of my cat because he got all tangled up in the blanket" Some of her pictures are funny. And she is aware of how the humor in her photos has been part of the healing magic of the project. She circled the gallery of her own snapshots with her pointer finger, all neatly framed, and then came back to the death of her brother--"It was really good for me to have a place to go where people would listen to me--and taking these pictures somehow helped me get through a very hard time in my life. I'll never be the same because of what Dougy Center did for me."

I wonder how an eleven year old can project such change forever without having live even just a few more years. I wonder how she will feel in a year-or as a 16 year old. How will she wonder about life and death when she has her own children. What impact will the experience of her childhood have on the shape of her existence? What might these photos mean in deep time? For now I am content to hear a little girl struggling with loss, making sense of life and getting on. We all sit in the circle pondering our own experiences of loss, recovery and healing--led by a child. It is good to be here.

In November the photos of Katrina and the other children of the Dougy Center come down. Someone else's work will go up. Our stories will move to health care, healing and life. Still Katrina's face and story are buried in my heart like a photograph album. I know I will look again at death and loss, and Katrina the storm and Katrina the little girl have both taught me courage and hope.

November is a time for us to recall the photos in our own albums. To remember those who have gone before us in faith and to be mindful of the little ones who might teach us. As we listen to one another about our future, as we get on the bus to see what others have done, as we celebrate Thanksgiving and move toward the promises of God in Advent, may we honor the dead by living fully in God's grace.

P Moe November 2005