New Orleans Visitor

"Shea left recently to finish the semester in France, and I already miss her. As weird as it was to have her show up unexpectedly, it’s even weirder now that she’s gone."

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By Alexandra Black

When Hurricane Katrina hit, refugees ended up spread all over the Southeast. Thousands came to Georgia, mostly Atlanta. Many Atlanta households became crowded as families took in guests, who in some cases were strangers. And a lot of teenagers came home to find new housemates and a change in their daily lives. That’s what happened to Youth Radio Atlanta’s Alexandra Black. She sent us her story.

My stepmom Moe happened to have the week off from work after Hurricane Katrina, so she ended up volunteering with The Red Cross at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. That’s where she met a young New Orleans evacuee Shea Sheldon, who was working with The Red Cross to help other evacuees.

Before the storm, Shea was a first-year student at Tulane University on full scholarship and she had just unpacked her things in her dorm. But when my stepmom met her, Shea was living in temporary housing at Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

STEPMOM (on tape)
I asked her where she was staying and she told me that she was staying on the floor of a rec room and that the lights were on all night. So after we worked together for about 6 hours, I said, "Why don't you just come home with me?" She seemed trustworthy, so I tried to get a hold of my husband, but he wasn't answering his cell phone. I made the decision to go ahead and bring her home.

SHEA (on tape)
She said "I have a bed." And I'd been sleeping on the floor and I was like, "Wow - that sounds really good. I'll go!"

ALEXANDRA
I wasn’t there the night Shea came home with my stepmom. By the time I met her, she had her bags unpacked and her laptop was set up on the living room floor. We don’t get a lot of house guests, so it was strange to find out we had a random college student staying with us indefinitely.

That first moment was like "Whoa." She was sort of quiet. I was trying to figure out if I needed to be extra sensitive because of her experience. Once she started talking, it was okay, but it took days before I found out her likes and dislikes...like what kind of music she enjoyed.

Shea slept on the futon in our sunroom and spent her waking hours volunteering, going for runs in the neighborhood, and talking to her worried mother on the phone. Her family didn’t live anywhere near New Orleans, and she was evacuated by the school. That’s how she ended up in Atlanta, where she didn’t know anyone – except the other evacuees she met on the way. Shea didn’t tell her mom before she came to live with us.

SHEA (on tape)
I think I e-mailed her a day or two later and told her about it. She was very surprised, and she thought that was very, very nice. She probably didn't expect that at all.

ALEXANDRA
I'm sure it was a little weird or even frightening for Shea’s mother when she found out that her daughter was living in the home of complete strangers. But she adjusted to the situation, of course, out of necessity.

And it didn’t take long for me to adjust either. Shea turned out to be well-mannered, funny, and intelligent. I can only hope my family didn’t scar her too badly with our strange vegetarian eating habits and juvenile sense of humor.

SHEA (on tape)
No, no not really. It's been really interesting and I really enjoy being here. It's a good experience. I'm going to remember it forever - I've never had tofu before and I never had Thai food, and actually Italian ice cream - I've never had that either.

ALEXANDRA
Shea fit into our family really well. She played board games with me and my brother and watched the news with my parents. My stepmom says she liked having a new energy in the house, and my dad points out another change in our family.

DAD (on tape)
One of the smaller changes has been that there's somebody under the age of 40 to do chores around here. Shea has been great doing things even when we've asked her to sit down and relax. We're hoping some of that might rub off on you and your brother.

ALEXANDRA
On the 25th of September, after she had been living with us for only about three weeks, Shea celebrated her twentieth birthday. My dad baked his famous chocolate cake, my stepmom bought her earrings and a dress and we had a special family dinner. Shea says it was one of the best birthdays she’s ever had.

Shea left recently to finish the semester in France, and I already miss her. As weird as it was to have her show up unexpectedly, it’s even weirder now that she’s gone.I’ve learned a lot about solidarity in the face of adversity from Shea’s wonderful example. She plans to go back to Tulane in the Spring after the city of New Orleans rebuilds. And I’m looking forward to staying in touch. She’s like a relative to me now. Who knows? Maybe I’ll be a guest in her house the next time we’re together.