In recent months, I’ve experienced something I always feared - change. When I returned home after evacuating because of Hurricane Katrina, I realized how lucky I had been before the storm. I came back to a house covered in two feet of water and cried because I realized I had nothing left but my family, which mattered most. The only pair of shoes I owned were on my feet. This is where the change happened. Accustomed to having an entire wardrobe, I now only had three outfits. I had no place to stay. My grandma offered us a place, so we decided to live with her. It’s a very different environment at her house and will definitely take a while to get used to. The bad news is it will take months to make our house livable again, but that’s just something my mom and I have to live with.

Whenever I think about change and the tragedy I experienced, I think about the quote my mom always recited to me. Now I finally understand it. “Change is a part of life.” Change is something everyone must experience, and we all have to face the situation and move forward.

Change can be good or bad. In my situation, I think it is a bad thing. My normal environment will definitely make it hard for me to follow my daily routines. On the other hand, I also realize that in the end this change will be for the best, which reminds me of the clichE, “Everything happens for a reason.” I think our house was flooded because we needed change in our lives. We haven’t experienced it in so long, and change is a good thing, after a while.