Pray For Miss Emma

Miss Emma is an elderly lady who requires an oxygen tank to breath properly. She lives in the house on the right. This little building is what I believe is called a Katrina Cottage. I've seen quite a few of them over the last few days. Miss Emma wants to live in the house on the left. This is the house that's being built for her by all of the volunteer teams that have come through Camp Gulfside. Mark and I went to this house today expecting to finish what little remained to be done on it so Miss Emma could finally live there. Unfortunately what remained to be done was above Mark's and my pay grade. We needed a proper plumber and a proper carpenter.

The moment we met Miss Emma I was struck by how she reminded me of my maternal grandmother. Tiny and frail. Her eyes lit up when she saw Mark and I arrive. She knows her house is close. Her daughter told us Miss Emma likes to sit on the porch of her soon to be new home and rock in her chair. She can't wait to move in. The wait is unbearable. Miss Emma is afraid she will be "called home" before she can live in her new home.

When Mark told her the house required more work before she could move in it broke Miss Emma's heart. Ours as well. "It won't be long now," Mark tried to reassure her. Miss Emma replied "I've heard that many times." She wasn't angry. She was disappointed yet still she thanked us. We felt helpless.

The good news is that the cavalry arrived tonight in the form of a team from Chino, CA. I showed these guys some pictures I took of Miss Emma's house and they seemed to believe that they could fix the issues quite easily. I'm hoping that happens tomorrow and I'm hoping it really won't be long until this house can get a Certificate of Occupancy. Until then please pray for Miss Emma.