I Know This Much Is True

Reading a story about true love will make this Monday a better day. Kennitha and I have been corresponding via email since she received her reunion invitation in the mail. She has helped us find some people who were on the “missing” list. But just this morning is the first time I’ve read about her life over the last 20 years:

I got married not long after graduating from high school. That marriage lasted less than a year. I then went to college and got my diploma in computer science from Southeastern Louisiana University. I worked for a home care company in Hammond for 6 years doing their computer networking.

I decided I wanted to be closer to my family and friends, so I made the move back to Slidell in 1999. I began working for a doctor as an office manager. I did everything but treat the patients. The doctor put me through massage therapy classes and I got my certificate, and then I began “treating” patients as well. I worked for the doctor until he decided to move his practice to Lafayette, and I was not about to make that commute everyday.

I remarried in November 2000. My husband’s name is Art. He is a master tech. He is the best thing that has happened in my life. I don’t know what I would have done without him when shortly after we were married, I became seriously ill. I spent over a year in and out of the hospital.

I was finally diagnosed with sarcoidosis. In my case, it affects my lymph nodes, joints, and eyes. It can affect many organs in the body. It also caused me to have kidney stones. I had over 20 kidney stones in one year. I was put on steroids (too bad they are not the kind that put muscles on the body). They have helped and I have been in remission for 1 year. I now have the okay from my doctor to go ahead and start a family. I will keep you posted on that situation.

During all of this Art was by my side day and night. Again, I don’t know what I would have done without him.

So Kennitha and Art thought their next step would be making a baby, and then Hurricane Katrina hit on August 29, 2005. As it did for so many people, their world turned upside down. Kennitha has generously described her own experience of the last several months, and that story will appear here on Wednesday. Of course, she ended her lengthy email with positive news, which I’m learning is just the way Kennitha is:

I am a housewife (well, I was when I had a house). Art and I enjoy playing darts. We both belong to the Greater Slidell Dart Association (GSDA). Art is the president of the league, and I have been the acting secretary since the hurricane. Anyone interested in checking our our website can do so by going to http://www.geocities.com/gsda70460.

Art and I also love to travel. We are going on a cruise to the western Caribbean on May 8. We are also looking forward to seeing everyone on June 10. We are not sure if we will be able to make it to the park, but we will be at the Gallery.