The third house was Ander's. Carol and Andy were going to paint there while the rest of us went on to roof at Miss Ruby's. Carol was a bit worried, unsure about being left there so we decided we'd all go on in and check it all out; see what needed to be done, how many workers to leave behind.

We were pulling up to the house in a nice little neighborhood near the shore in Pascagoula, Mississippi. There was a FEMA trailer in the front yard and a big black man came bursting out. He paced outside the bus as we parked, opened the doors and all tumbled out. He grabbed each one of us and hugged us... a big ol' heartfelt bear hug. His wife was inside and showed us around to all that needed done. Groups before us had gotten it to the stage of painting. Everything in their house had had to be replaced.

Carol and Andy painted there and later more of us joined the effort. Ander (real name was Andrew but he said his mama called him Ander and we should, too.) was a reall chatty guy. He had a deep accent that we had some trouble understanding but he was patient about it and repeated at will. He and his family had been at home when the hurricane hit. They had ridden out hurricanes before but Katrina's number popped up as it hit the shores and it hit harder than predicted. His home flooded instantly with the wall of water. The local lagoon also flooded with it so that was in the water, too. He said he was not afraid for himself but for his wife and his grandson. The water came up to Ander's neck and he had to hold his Grandson above his head. They could not escape their house until the waters receded. They survived... but their house was in shambles.

The house was unairconditioned and so hot and stuffy! We were all soaked with sweat. Ander never lifted a hand to help but kept us entertained the whole while. His wife wanted us to paint her laundry room and her garage but we moved on to those in more need at that point. Ander climbed onto the bus to thank us one more time and mad John write down each of our names so he could "put it in the newspaper".