The After Path: A New Beginning
()
About this ebook
Rochelle D. Smith
This book is not fiction, it is a personal experience and this is why I am qualified to write this book. Secondly, I am not just the writer but, a survivor of Hurricane Katrina. I currently hold a Associate Degree in Computer Technology and Bachelors Degree in Science.
Related to The After Path
Related ebooks
A Jew Among the Evangelicals: A Guide for the Perplexed Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOur Creator's Love for Humanity: An Awakening Journey Towards Togetherness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGod Has Saved Me: The Story of Rolson St Louis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNo Regrets: Growing Up American In An Era of Globalization Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLugo an Autobiography Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings57 Days: The Wait for a New Heart Sparks a Spiritual Journey of Faith and Love Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHit Men Don't Take Credit Cards Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsF Street In Love Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAn American Fly on Mexican Walls: A Memoir Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHurdles: Memoirs of My Life's Unfinished Journey Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWho Is My Neighbor? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Song of Suburbia: Scenes from Suburban Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHome Cookin’ Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFinding Jesus at the Border: Opening Our Hearts to the Stories of Our Immigrant Neighbors Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lamentations of an Old Hillbilly: A Collection of Poems, Recipes and Stories of How Faith Guided My Life. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Grace of Living with Cancer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMisremembering Dr. King: Revisiting the Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gift from Within Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNorth Carolina Murder & Mayhem Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn God We Trust? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIndulge Your Senses: Scaling Intimacy in a Digital World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe New Middle Class: Creating Wages, Wealth, and Opportunity in the 21st Century Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Thoughts of Worship and Praise Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom Blunder To Blessing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWill You Walk with Me? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Journey Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRegistered for Life: Consequences of a Former Sex Offender Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Big Bend: A Homesteader's Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Letters from Wanderlust Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLost in Wyoming Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Religious Biographies For You
A Grief Observed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Breaking Free: How I Escaped Polygamy, the FLDS Cult, and My Father, Warren Jeffs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life's Sacred Questions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Woman They Wanted: Shattering the Illusion of the Good Christian Wife Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bonhoeffer Abridged: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Heaven Is For Real Conversation Guide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Feeding the Soul (Because It's My Business): Finding Our Way to Joy, Love, and Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dance of the Dissident Daughter: A Woman's Journey from Christian Tradition to the Sacred Feminine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sex Cult Nun: Breaking Away from the Children of God, a Wild, Radical Religious Cult Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pilgrim's Regress Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Letters and Papers from Prison Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Prayer Journal Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Confessions of St. Augustine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Devil in the City of Angels: My Encounters With the Diabolical Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Paul: A Biography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Autobiography of a Yogi: The Original 1946 Edition plus Bonus Material Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sex, Jesus, and the Conversations the Church Forgot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil in Pew Number Seven Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Not by Might, Nor by Power: The Jesus Revolution 2nd Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5With Head and Heart: The Autobiography of Howard Thurman Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rift: A Memoir of Breaking Away from Christian Patriarchy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Joan of Arc Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related categories
Reviews for The After Path
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The After Path - Rochelle D. Smith
This Is Me
I WAS BORN IN THE SPRINGTIME on March 25, 1966, in the birthplace of jazz. That is in New Orleans, Louisiana, one of the oldest cities in America. New Orleans is home to a variety of ethnic groups who speak a variety of languages, primarily English but also French and Spanish. I was born during a very controversial time. Hurricane Betsy arrived in the summer of 1965 and nearly destroyed the city. Also, Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy, Sam Cooke, and Malcolm X all were assassinated around the time of my birth. Maybe this is why I always find myself fighting injustice.
I have a multicultural background, which includes French, Native American, and African. Believe it or not, these nationalities exist on both sides of my family. My mother’s grandfather was from New Guinea and was also African, and his wife was a full-blooded Native American. No one is exactly sure what tribe Grandma Lizza belonged to, but they are quite sure she was of Native American descent. My father’s grandparents were direct descendants of a French couple from a little town called Raceland, Louisiana. So you see, I am as mixed up as a pot of gumbo.
My parents were separated prior to my birth; therefore, I am the product of a single-parent home, but my father did play a very active and supportive role in my life. My life transitioned at a very early age. I delivered my firstborn at the age of sixteen, so I dropped out of high school and continued on through adult education. This is where I obtained my GED. By the time I was twenty-one, I had two children and an associate’s degree in computer technology. Five years later, I received my nursing diploma as an LPN. I worked, prayed, and played in the city of New Orleans up until Katrina arrived. This event changed the course of my life and the lives of my family. I arrived in Texas two weeks following Katrina and began a new and different life.
Before the Storm
BEFORE THE STORM, THE CITY WAS vast and free. The people were filled with hope, joy, and peace. The sound of music flowed from street corner to street corner. Children laughed and played throughout the streets. I lived in a moderate-income neighborhood called gentilly. Gentilly lies within the heart of the city. My greatest desire was to live in Gentilly near the lakefront. After many years of hard work, I finally achieved that task. I am originally from uptown, in the Central City area. Uptown is where I worked, prayed, and played.
I have worked and functioned as an LPN for over fifteen years. My daily routine was to drive my daughter to school uptown, then drop in at Autumn Park which was five minutes away and do six miles around the track, and then work out for one hour at the French Riviera Spa. All this was done in between picking up a twelve-hour shift at the hospital. I primarily worked on the weekend, twelve- and sixteen-hour shifts. But occasionally I would have a weekend or two off. When I did, my best buddy and I would venture off into the French Market and hang out until way after dark. This was one of our favorite spots. I have an old friend who is a streetcar driver. When I got bored, I