A boat still rests next door, amid weeds, to 2727 Metropolitan St. in the 9th ward where 19 year old Waldrica Nathan decided to ride out Hurricane Katrina with her fiancee James Brundy. It was the home of his parents. James Brundy was also the father of Waldrica's unborn child. The quaint little blue home sits in the middle of the block on a dead end street.
On either side of 2727 Metropolitan St. homes remain abandoned, in disrepair and over grown with weeds and shrubbery. Above, not only can you still see the damage done to the brick siding by the stagnate water on the house next door to 2727 Metropolitan St., but the markings of search and rescue crews dated 9-27-05 still remain visible.
2727 Metropolitan St. today is fully renovated, lawn kept nicely cut, fresh electrical lines, new paint job , satellite dish and even a cute little mailbox!! As a matter of fact, it is the only house on that side of the street that shows any signs of life at all.
Life and 2727 Metropolitan St. , however, seem to go hand in hand. Waldrica, nine months pregnant, was forced with the rest of the family to take refuge in the tiny attic space as water poured into the house early on Monday morning Aug. 29, 2005. A short time later, Waldrica began to have her first contractions. By midnight, over 12 hours later, her water broke. Then it happened.
Early in the morning, on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005, in sweltering attic heat and flood waters lapping in the hallway below them, Waldrica with the help of her fiancee and his parents, delivered James Kenneth Brundy Jr.
After James Jr.'s umbilical cord was tied off with a shoe string, and he was cleaned off with some alcohol pads, what came next was only natural. An exhausted mother breast fed her new born son.
It would still be over 12 hours however before agents from the Louisiana Dept. of Wild Life and Fisheries, the first agency to deploy boats, overwhelmed with tens of thousands to rescue, eventually was able to maneuver their way to 2727 Metropolitan St.
What they found at 2727 Metropolitan St. led to tears of joy for LDWF agents amongst one of the worst modern disasters to hit American soil. Well aware of the magnitude of the flooding, death and destruction, they were also the initial ones to experience firsthand the explosion of a well spring of hope, spewing like a geyser from the sight of 5 pound 4 ounce James Brundy Jr. "Look at this baby", the agent tearfully expressed, perhaps similar to how an impoverished prospector may respond who had found a 5 pound 4 ounce gold nugget after a life time of mining for that ultimate treasure.
The Brundy family was then ferried by LDWF agents to an overpass where Lt Kim Williams of the New Orleans Police Dept. accepted responsibility for the precious cargo, and sped both mother and child to West Jefferson Hospital in Marrero, in Jefferson Parish.
Officer Kevin Thomas, who had been shot in the head, had been transported to the same hospital a short time earlier. Due to that crisis I had stationed myself in the overflowing ER waiting room awaiting word on Kevin's condition. It was during this time a murmur began to spread through the ER about the pending arrival of a baby that had been born in the attic the night before. The murmur soon turned into a hush as the entire waiting room became transfixed in awe as Lt. Kim Williams entered the ER doors cradling a teenie tiny new born baby, still with a pinkish hue, wearily followed by the young mother wrapped in a bloodstained sheet.
In those few seconds it took for mother and child to pass in the hallway through the ER waiting room, it was as if time stood still. In those few seconds, the destruction, death and chaos surrounding Katrina disappeared. In those few seconds, I believe I may have gotten a smidgen of a taste of what it might be like to see the miracle of birth. Those few seconds are also probably the closest I will ever come to knowing what it might be like to become a parent, thus leaving me dumbfounded and speechless in what the reality of becoming a parent really must be like.
Lt. Kim Williams entering into the ER cradling new born James Brundy Jr , and 19 year old Waldrica Nathan following close behind is an image I will never forget. It is a memory that continues to nourish me with a sense of hope, not just about the recovery of New Orleans, but about life in general. That no matter how bad it seems to be, when you least expect it, new life/hope can be birthed.
Childbirth, it is my understanding (and confirmed by 4 sisters and a mother) can be one of the most painful events a human can endure. Waldrica not only courageously embraced that pain, but she did so under perhaps some of the most extreme conditions possible. However, when she was asked if the house at 2727 Metropolitan St. left her with good memories or bad memories, immediately she responded "All good, not only because we came out alive, but that is where I had James!" Thus it is no surprise when I asked Waldrica if she would be interested in being reunited with her rescuers at the Cabildo, August 22, 2009 for the first time since that fateful day back in August 2005, without hesitation and excitedly, she agreed.
Our first meeting was at Burger King at S. Claiborne and Carrollton, it is there Waldrica works as a cook. She also showed me a picture of a precocious 3 year old, who is definitely a few feet taller than when I saw him last. Waldrica exuberates both a spirit of gratitude and resiliency, two qualities that I am sure all women who have given birth in a dark hot attic during a major catastrophe would share. But, are there any others???
On August 22, 2009 you are invited to the Cabildo to see first hand, the reality of life birthed amidst tragedy. As a result, maybe you too can be infected with a new sense of hope in your heart as we continue to face the challenges left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina or any challenges you may face in your life today. Because whether you are from New Orleans or New England, facing disaster or facing divorce, hope is hope. And we all need hope!