Survivor guilt...

It is just horrid what is happening in New Orleans. I was sitting in my family room, watching Sleepless in Seattle, eating my boneless, skinless sauteed chicken breast with Thai rice, broccoli and carrots, feeling really grateful that all four walls of my little house are around me, no water on the floor, and the power is on, while back east, the people are homeless and have only just begun to get food and adequate sanitary conditions. It is always like that for me. I feel guilty that I have so much, while others have so little. Oh, I will send a donation to the Red Cross, as will so many of those other guilty folks. And that will help, a lot. It sometimes just seems like I should stop for a moment, and reflect on the grace I have all around me, my little dog, the friends and family who are well and also without tragedy in their lives, the sunshine and sweet breeze now blowing in the sycamore trees in front of the house. And I send my prayers for a quick resolution to the despair that has fallen on the gulf coast.