I am not from New Orleans. But sometimes, I get honorary status because I have lived and worked here as a news reporter since 1999—and because I gave birth to our son, Hector, the day before Hurricane Katrina at Touro Infirmary, in New Orleans 20 years ago.
Hector wasn’t due until Sept. 11, but he came early. I had my first labor pain at Matassa’s Market, the corner store on Dauphine Street on August 28, 2005. It was a scorchingly hot Saturday and I had stopped in to buy popsicles. Our friend L.J., who was at Matassa’s buying a pack of cigarettes, walked me home and waited with me until his dad, trumpeter “Kid Merv” Campbell, finished a brass-band gig that day.
This rest of this essay can be read here at The Lens’ partner, Time magazine.
