Katey is a longhaired Chihuhua. She is very sweet,
but a bit shy. She LOVES the cats! They groom her and she grooms them!
| STORMY & KATEY |
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Stormy is a longhaired Chihuahua.
There is a story about Stormy. We came to Texas as refugees from the Mississippi Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina.
The owners of Stormy's mom had sought shelter at my house, thinking it would be safer than theirs. It wasn't.
My house took a direct hit from a tornado from the storm and was no longer habitable. Anyway, Stormy's mom
was due to have her first litter "anytime". Stormy was born two days after the hurricane, and that's how
he got his name. Believe me, Stormy is the ONLY blessing that come from that event! Stormy tolerates the cats. He basically
ignores them and vice versa. Katey is his sidekick and that is sufficient for him!
Stormy has been with me longer than
any of the other animal family members. He's sort of "Uncle Stormy" to everyone.
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| DEBBIE and LEN (son) - Fall 2007 |
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| Len was having a "bad hair" day - it was windy! LOL |
MY STORY
I moved to San Antonio TX in September
2005, less than three weeks after Hurricane Katrina. I was from the Gulfport MS area. Most people think Katrina
hit New Orleans because they got most of the publicity - and help. The fact is that Katrina did NOT hit New Orleans.
Yes, they got high winds and a lot of rain from the storm, but their problems stemmed from their levees crumbling from all
that wind and rain. Had the levees held, their story would have been very different. And only the lower Ninth
Ward area was severely damaged. In fact, the famous French Quarters was pretty much undamaged. And Louisiana
officials had known for years that their levees wouldn't hold through a major Hurricane. And yet they had done nothing
to prepare and protect their people. On the other hand, Katrina DID hit farther East of New Orleans and the Mississippi
Gulf Coast got the worst of it. Many lives, including mine, were changed forever. My son, Len, had been living
in San Antonio since about 2000. After he was able to get a flight home to see how things were after Katrina, at first
glance at the damage he was adamant that I couldn't stay there and brought me back to San Antonio with him where I had
to totally rebuild a new life from scratch. I got precious little assistance from any government agencies and had to
fight for months for even what little I did get. I suppose I'm sharing this here because the discrimination Mississippi
faced after Katrina in light of all the publicity, sympathy and help New Orleans got will never cease to be a sore spot in
the hearts and minds of everyone who actually went through the storm itself on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, not just high winds
and rain. This is my way of speaking up for us and sharing the truth of the situation. For one reason, when I
came to San Antonio, as soon as anyone heard I survived Katrina, they immediately assumed I was from New Orleans.
And there was a good bit of hard feelings about all the New Orleans refugees from Katrina who got assistance they didn't
deserve and moved to new areas like San Antonio, bringing drugs and prostitution with them. So after everything I'd
gone through, I faced some discrimination by association, as unjustified as that was. Even though I had worked and paid taxes
my entire life and given to charitable organizations, when I needed help - it wasn't there for me. I was in shock,
I had lost my home and my job, and I was devastated. But I didn't have the luxury of any handouts to get me back
on my feet. I did what I had to do. I didn't have time to grieve my losses. I had to pay bills, live.
I got a job and began trying to build a new life for myself. It hasn't been easy. But
the other side of this story is that when I eventually began to breed cats, having my cats and their babies is a testimony
to the healing power of animals, to the comfort and joy they bring into our lives.
Callie talks & sings - sometimes loudly!
He cracks me up and makes me smile! Callie has a Hurricane Katrina story attached as well. In Mississippi I didn't
breed cats. I had horses. After the storm, fences were down, no one had hay, the horses were running loose, etc.
When it was determined I couldn't bring any of my horses with me, a woman who had miniature horses of her own traded me
Callie for my pregnant dapple-gray show quality miniature female. I could bring a parrot as a fellow refugee. I handfed
and raised Callie from his infancy. I never got to see the foal my beautiful little mare Nikki had.
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