WHAT A HAPPY ENDING
By Antoinette Bryant – Pugh
On the 27th of August 2005 the city of New Orleans was in a mandatory evacuation state. I worked for a major airline that informed use to gather our families and proceeded to the airport for evacuation. My husband stated he was not leaving “he will be fine.”
Arriving to the airport I had never seen so many people scared, and confused. Each airline did everything to ensure everyone it was going to be all right. The airlines sent in extra aircrafts to help with the evacuation. The time came when our families had to board for departure. I tried all day to convince my husband to evacuate. He refused to leave. He stated once again “I will be all right do not worry about me.” My grandchildren, daughter and I boarded the aircraft and headed to Atlanta. Once arriving in Atlanta, the company had hotel rooms for each employee and their families. After arriving to the hotel, I tried contacting my husband and could not get through to him. Trying not to show how concerned I was in front of the children, as they were already confused about what was happening. I was unable to eat or sleep worrying about my husband and stayed glued to television set. For several days I had no contact with my husband. I continued to work at the airport in Atlanta to keep my mind focused.
One day our marketing director approached me, he heard that I did not know were my husband was and if he were all right. He asked me if I would tell my story to a friend of his who worked for CNN. CNN did a story on how I was searching for my husband. When the story aired, I received several calls however, no one had any news about were my husband was or could have been.
Then it happened, I was on a relief mission in Gulf Port, Mississippi with the company distributing food and water once our mission was completed we flew back to Atlanta. On the flight back, just before we touch down in...