Forever in Alabama

I have really been thinking about Alabama as of late. I miss it so much still. I never ever want to forget it and how it changed me. I think of all the smashed houses, destroyed businesses, the trailer park that had nothing but three trailers still standing, the apartment building near the Lloyd' house that was smashed to bits, the feeling of when I held that Bible at the last house we worked at. I don't want to forget any of it, nor the people. Jaddie and her beautiful smile, Kevin and the way he changed, his cousin and the way he made us smile, David and his kindness, Melanie and her sweetness. They are all etched upon my heart and will never be forgotten.

I know that I was terribly tired at the end of the week that I was there, but I would have so totally stayed another week. Actually, I would have moved there, had my family permitted it. There is still so much to do, and I really feel lazy, sitting in my house, with the roof, walls, and my stuff still standing, where it belongs, too. Some people down there have no homes, lost dear ones, and are most likely sleeping in someone else' house, or in a hotel. I feel so bad for them and my stomach starts to twist in knots when I do think of how spoiled I am-we are. I don't like it, not one bit.

As Regina Lear put it, “Pieces of my heart, will be in Alabama.”

~C.J. Hines~