davidfcooper

Dear Joshua,
Your father sent to us the petition that you started as part of your Bar Mitzvah project, and he indicated that you had read my "Fighting Katrina Fatigue" email. I am very impressed by what you are doing and am honored to know that my email might have helped to encourage this important project that you have undertaken. Your father has great reason to be proud of it, and of you, and I'm so glad that he shared this with us. By the way, I have a 13-year old son as well, and I know that you guys can get pretty embarrassed and even annoyed at us dads when we express our pride, so in case you didn't want him to send it out to us, give him a break!

That this is part of your Bar Mitzvah has particularly special meaning for us. Believe it or not, our Adam had his Bar Mitzvah on the weekend that Katrina paid us her visit. The service went forward as planned on Saturday morning (Aug. 27), but as it became more clear that Katrina was heading our way, many people left town that afternoon, and we all firmed up plans to leave that day or the next. We still had a party Saturday night, although with about half as many people as planned for, and then we evacuated the City early Sunday a.m. Katrina hit Monday morning and, well you know the rest of the story. Our own house took 6 feet of water, we hope to rebuild it but aren't certain yet (a 2-story house, and the upstairs was fine). Needless to say, we now look back at Adam's Bar Mitzvah as the last happy event prior to everything changing so drastically.

The support of people like you, and the fact that you are encouraging the support of others, is very important, and we thank you for it. It give us hope for many more happy events ahead. You of course are absolutely correct that the hurricane/wind itself did not cause the vast majority of the problem, that instead it was the poorly designed levees that should have but did not hold up in a storm that, by the time it hit New Orleans, was really a Category 3 storm, which supposedly the levees were built to withstand.

Although you and I have never met, I know that you are a thoughtful young man with a commitment to doing the right thing and to doing your part to increase the awareness of others, all of which helps to make this, whether Louisiana, Florida, or somewhere else, better for us all. When I sent my email to a group of friends from outside of Louisiana, I had no idea how many people would eventually read it. I did receive many responses, but I must say that your response is the most meaningful of all.

I have signed the petition and intend to forward it to the list that originally received my "Fighting Katrina Fatigue" email. I expect that you will begin to see many names you do not recognize!

Mazel Tov, and Thank you.
Larry Orlansky

http://www.livejournal.com/users/davidfcooper/150809.html