I was born in New Orleans, just days after my father graduated from LSU Medical School, and lived here during most of his training. We moved to Alexandria when I was five. Even at that tender age, New Orleans was engraved on my heart. I knew I’d be back.
Two days after I graduated from college I moved to New Orleans, with no job, apartment, or roommate. I just knew I had to be here. As luck—or love—would have it, I married a New Orleanian, guaranteeing I’d be here forever.
Days after Katrina when Philip and I felt everything was gone, we began plotting how we’d get back, rebuild, begin again. There was no doubt: New Orleans was worth saving.
A friend who moved to Texas during the storm recently confided that despite more opportunity and a great job, she was charting her trip back home for good. A cousin who’s lived in Memphis for all of her adult life just told me she wants to buy a house in New Orleans because “for some reason, I need to be home.”
It is the magnet. That invisible sorceress who pulls us back, no matter the challenges. That seductive imp who says, “You’ve drunk my water, tasted my gumbo, heard my music, loved my history, screamed ‘Who Dat.’ You are forever mine.”
And we, in turn, are forever hers.
Laura Claverie is a local freelance writer.
I know that pull!! NOLA native through and through. Currently living in the Dominican Republic to do clinical research, but I know I´ll be back!!! I can´t stay away.
Laura, Great tribute to N.O.!
From another “out of town” native and cousin living far away in California! Our roots go deep.
Hi Laura, I too grew up in a wonderful town in central Louisiana but for the last 38 years have lived in Orleans and St. Tammany Parish. We are proud to call New Orleans and the surrounding area home. Even living and raising our family on the Northshore has not erased my experiences of being part of the Big Easy during my single years after college while teaching in Jefferson parish and living in the Carrollton area. The spirit of all that makes New Orleans special gets under your skin. We now own a quaint spot in the French Quarter that we enjoy almost every weekend and love sharing with family and friends. The lure of the “city that care forgot” is so deeply enbedded in the hearts of its citizens and this is so vividly seen in every event that brings its people together. Thank you Laura for sharing your thoughts and feelings of the city we love.
wonderful article with profound insights about seductive relationship with the Big Easy…I know because I moved away 40 years ago and my warm feelings for New Orleans still remain constant.”Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans”?