Ties That Bind

Celebrating a birthday with family & neighbor/friend

AS I continue to work in the relief efforts following hurricanes Katrina and Rita (or KatRita, as one wag coined), more and more lessons are being taught to those who would learn.

Here's the most basic lesson, repeated and enlarged upon - as repetition is at the heart of most learning :

Neighbors for immediate help , Family and Friends for longterm relief.

Three days ago I mentioned how getting to know your neighbors better (and thereby forming stronger bonds with them) was the best single insurance policy for having help when you need it in an emergency.

I have personally seen this rule played out over and over again in the stories of those who lived through the two hurricanes that just ravaged Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and Alabama.

Today I add the natural corollary to that lesson: Forming strong Family and Friendship bonds is your best chance of getting longterm help quickly.

This next point may be controversial, but I have seen it over and over in these past few weeks :

Even among the very poorest of the poor (and to a greater degree among the other evacuees) - those who have lived their lives in a way that created and maintained strong family and friendship bonds did NOT have to rely on government help for very long, if at all !

As a relief worker who deals with evacuees every single day, I have noticed this common thread running through our relief efforts to help folks from every race and socioeconomic level.

The most help being given to house and feed evacuees is NOT being delivered by government - but by family and friends of those affected.

This is a powerful lesson.

Let's contact our family members and friends and tell them and also find a way to show them that we love them and appreciate their love and friendship.

Then let's do it again soon. And constantly.

THEY are our connection to the positive life force here on earth, period.