August 29, 2012, Fairbanks, Alaska, 1:57 a.m., Alaska Time~

Seven years ago, my life was changed forever.

I lost my darn fool home (and everything else) to a monster hurricane.  The bitch's name was Katrina and she stole everything from me, including my very life as I once knew it.  

It was a miracle that I even survived.  It was a miracle that ANYBODY survived.

I will never forget the sheer helplessness I felt as the winds screamed around and above me and seeing the waters rise ... then they started receding ... and then all calamity broke loose all over again when those damned levees burst and we went right back to square one.  

That was the last thing I rmeember before passing out.

I have since returned back to N'Awlins, but she is no longer the same.

And now, Hurricane Isaac is paying her a visit ... ON the seven-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.  I'm almost too afraid to see what Isaac is gonna dish out to N'Awlins and those on the "dirty" (eastern) side of the storm .... all I can do is sit here within the comfort of my own home here in Fairbanks, Alaska, and pray.

My oldest child, Frank, Jr., sees my tears.  I let them fall from my eyes, unabashed.  I tell him I was in a bad storm before he was even born and I am just remembering things.  Maverick, who is soon to be one year old, is too little to understand, but he reaches up and touches my face, a look of wondernment and concern on his tiny face.

My husband, Frank, Sr., sees my tears and holds me in his strong, powerful arms.  He knows what I have gone through, but ... does he really??  I mean, HE wasn't even there when I went through Hurricane Katrina; he can't POSSIBLY understand the emotional connection I still feel in regards to New Orleans, Louisiana, or the trauma I endured during the height of the hurricane.  Seven years later, I still have nightmares from time to time (though they have gotten worse as the Anniversary approaches and now, Hurricane Isaac certainly doesn't help matters any!).

All I can do is pray desperate prayers to God and ask for His divine protection upon the people of the Gulf Coast and pray there isn't a repeat of what Katrina did seven years ago.  It's like de ja vu all over again, and my heart is bursting like the levees did, sending a storm surge of tears and worry for my beloved home back in New Orleans.