20 joyful moments in New Orleans, post-Katrina
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Big Chief Bo Dollis and the Wild Magnolias Mardi Gras Indians perform at 2006 Jazz Fest. Photo: Skip Bolen/WireImage
It's a tough day on a tough week. So, instead of rehashing what happened when Hurricane Katrina remade our world, we're going to focus on why we love New Orleans.
Why it matters: Twenty years doesn't really mean anything by itself. It's merely a nice round number to tell us there's been a passage of time.
- But those years mean infinite moments within families and friends and between strangers that rebuilt us. Many happened without fanfare or applause, though they're what mattered most to us.
Zoom in: We asked you to share a moment that's brought you joy in the past 20 years.
- Here's what you said.
Note: These comments have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
"Every single Mardi Gras Day"
"Joy? Every single Mardi Gras Day!" — actor Harry Shearer
"Our first year living on the parade route on St. Charles Avenue, I woke up to the smell of barbeque and Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You.' I don't ever want to live anywhere else." — Fleurty Girl owner Lauren Haydel
"When the Saints won the Super Bowl"
"The first quarter of the Sept. 25, 2006, Saints v. Falcons game. After U2 played 'The Saints are Coming,' Steve Gleason blocked the Dirty Birds' punt, and the Saints scored. At that moment, we knew the Saints would come back, better than ever and, by metaphorical extension, so would New Orleans." — GNO Inc. president Michael Hecht
"When the Saints won the Super Bowl in 2010, it wasn't about football for me. I remember the energy downtown, the pride, camaraderie, revelry and hospitality that embody the spirit of New Orleans." — food influencer and educator Vy Linh Ky
"You can't stop the music"
"My first time performing at Jazz Fest after Katrina was filled with so much love, light, and energy. In that moment, I knew I never wanted to leave and that I would stay to raise my family and carry on our New Orleans music legacy." — musician Robin Barnes
"The first time I heard the sound of a marching band after Katrina I cried! I said, 'you can't stop the music, and you can't stop the spirit of the people in this city.'" — chef Amy Sins
At a Tulane University staff "welcome back" event in spring 2006, "Wynton Marsalis came out and played a beautiful piece on his trumpet. Everyone in the room, including myself, just broke down and cried." — reader Peter R.
"I almost broke my teeth grinning [at] the first parade in the French Quarter. It was a bunch of queens and it was Decadence. It was the defiance: I know you can't come put your rules on us." — musician John Boutte
"Bruce Springsteen's 2006 Jazz Fest performance!!" — reader Bruce G.
"I live across the street from Charbonnet Funeral Home and I get to have a second-line in front of my house just about every day. I get a daily reminder that 'This is your culture.'" — burlesque performer Bella Blue
Our food traditions
"When Willie Mae's Scotch house reopened. … It cemented my love and loyalty to this city. I cooked outside on the sidewalk for members of the Southern Foodways Alliance while they found the strength to swing hammers with nothing but a love of this city in their hearts." — chef Alon Shaya
Thanksgiving 2006 was "the first Thanksgiving where family was all together again after Katrina. [The] downstairs level of my parents' house was still gutted down to the studs, so we cooked everything using a grill, crockpot and toaster oven!" — reader Rose M.
Turning our pain into joy
"ExhibitBE was a personification of New Orleans alchemy, an example of what we have always done to turn our pain into joy. " — artist Brandan "BMike" Odums
"I'm thankful to be able to run in Audubon Park again!" — attorney Morris Bart
"I love going through City Park in late February or early March and seeing deciduous trees getting new leaves. I also love the tulips along Big Lake." —reader Adele M.
"This place is different"
"Two years after reconnecting with a friend-turned-partner, I knew we were meant to be together, and we were meant to be home. This coming week, I'm finally moving back." — reader Sarah G.
"During my recruiting trip ... every person who came up to my wife and I, they didn't say anything about the Saints. They just said, 'Thank you for wanting to be a part of the city.' It just made you feel that man, this place is different." — former Saints quarterback Drew Brees, as told to Axios' Maxwell Millington
"My cousin and his family ... make holidays together sweet. Plus from my galleries, the view of the annual ChaWa (Masking Black Indian Parade) in early April." — poet and Dillard professor Mona Lisa Saloy
"I have felt incredibly thankful to live in a city that came together and embraced diversity." — Mayra E. Pineda, president and CEO of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Louisiana
"It's the people who make us what we are. Over the years, our people have weathered many challenges, celebrated tremendous triumphs, embraced change, and built a strong, resilient community that thrives on innovation." — Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng
