Letter to the Editor

10 years of thanks for being the shelter in our storm

Thursday, September 3, 2015

As a decade passes, the memories of the time still sit in my memory like it were yesterday. We were evacuating Metairie, northbound on the morning before the tragic storm, and could not find a hotel that would take pets throughout Mississippi or Tennessee.

There were five of us. All we could fit in the car was 2-3 days worth of clothing and a small pool of cash to make it. Finally, after about 18 hours of driving and searching, we arrived in what would soon be our displaced home for an indefinite amount of time: Blytheville, AR. - "blah'-vuul" as it was pronounced by the locals.

To this day, there's not too many things I am more grateful for. Amongst those few things are the family and home I may not have been able to return to had it not been for the divine intervention of landing in this shelter from the storm.

We could only afford a few nights stay at the hotel (Comfort Inn I believe) before we had to resort to Red Cross for any assistance. The volunteers went out of their way to help and shelter us for the first few weeks.

During this time and throughout, there were many church communions as well as other general outstanding citizens of the town that outreached to donate clothing, food and hygiene needs. There are so many to name and my memory of names is weak, however we will always remember the souls.

Amongst the most significant acts of "outstandingness" was a birthday party put together on short notice, for a young girl (6yrs) who was traveling with us. Her birthday fell on the 2nd of September and amongst all of the craziness, she was brought some comfort and normalness.

We finally received government assistance after about 2 weeks, and were set up in Holiday Inn hotel for the remainder of the 4 weeks we were there. They hotel staff were very understanding, empathetic of our situation, and did the best they could to go above and beyond in accommodating us. It may sound strange to some, but I even have to thank the bar staff for helping with stress relief.

Even after we were "somewhat stabilized" there, people of the city still keep pouring in their help. Many of fine meals were prepared to keep us full and many activities were arranged to help us make the best of our situation. The shoulders to cry on and understanding ears to outrage on were much needed and much appreciated.

There's sooo much more detail that calls for thanks but I'll keep this brief, and try to make it through being choked up as I write. Just know, you are all appreciated in a way my words can't even explain.

We all made it back home (or what was left of it at the time) safely and all made it through the recovery process in different ways.

Ms. Brenda Barrett, Mr. Matthew Barrett, and Miss Jade Barrett (the 6yr old mentioned earlier) went on to Las Vegas for a few years. Ms. Barrett met the love of her life there, was leading a happy life, and ever growing in her spirituality. Unfortunately, she passed last year in April due to an intestinal medical condition.

Matthew Barrett (Jades father) also found a new love there, made "some" peace with his long lost father, got married and has three kids now (including Jade Barrett). They now reside in Houston and are doing well.

Jade Barrett is now in high school, as beautiful as ever, and doing VERY well.

Mellissa Vasalo (Jades mother) went on to Las Vegas with them but decided to return back to LA. shortly afterwards. She is still alive and kicking to the best of our knowledge, but not sure of whereabouts at this point.

I (Ronald Brockmann) returned to Metairie and have made my way through the recovery. I've since returned to school for business and am now running a successful tech support/digital marketing firm. Most importantly, I've reunited with my family thanks to yalls support.

While this letter is long overdue, I hope it still finds its way back to the souls who touched our lives in a most significant way. We are eternally grateful and one of us sends her thanks from beyond.

Please feel free to contact us (emails below) and let us know how you are doing. If anyone has pictures of us in our time there, we would greatly appreciate them as well.

Sincerely, Ms. Brenda Barrett (https://www.facebook.com/brenda.barrett.102?fref=ts} Mr. Matthew Barrett (matt.barrett1977@gmail.com) Mr. Ronald Brockmann (ceo@contrive-it.net).

-- Ronald Brockmann