Hope

There was the most amazing little boy on NBC Nightly News just now. His name was Charles Evans. He had the spirit of a future spiritual leader or motivator. NBC Nightly News first saw him in New Orleans after the hurricane. He talked about how the people needed help and were dying, and he said, "And I don't want to die."

It's the way he said it. He sounded like a leader, and he sounded like a hopeful believer even. He was stranded with some family members in HOT, FLOODED New Orleans and he wasn't crying or screaming, like almost every other kid would. Like any other adult would even, in a situation like that. I've seen kids crying and screaming in stores when they can't get a toy they want. But, Charles was stranded in a miserable environment where people were dying around him and he sounded like a leader the way he spoke. I wish I recorded it so I could quote all that he said here. But again, it's also the WAY he said it.

It was as if he could step up and take the place of one of the people in charge who weren't doing their job, and I could imagine little Charles saying, "Okay everybody! We're going to get through this! I'm going to get you all out of here! Here's what we're going to do..."

The update showed him in safety now (I believe he was in Houston). His elderly grandmother, who takes care of him, made it out with him. His aunt, who was ill, could not survive the trip. She died.

He spoke about her the way a minister would speak about someone who died, with such respect. The night that she died, he wrote her obituary. Nobody even asked him to do it. He just did it.

When talking about all that happened, I heard Charles say, "We have to look forward."

I don't know where he learned to talk like that, but it seemed to be something inside him - like he was born with the spirit of a wise old man.

I just wanted to tell his story here because his story deserved to be told. I don't know where his new home will be. This hurricane will not be over until every child, and every person has a home of their own again. Not a shelter, but a true place to call home. 

This post is from the Retropolis archives. It was originally posted 9-15-05. We posted many blog entries about Hurricane Katrina during that time. Four years later, it is still painful to think of all those people waiting for help there, stranded. Charles, and all of those who lost their loved ones or their homes during Hurricane Katrina, are still in our hearts and always will be.