MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Praylen Dickerson had plenty of pictures to remind him of his native home New Orleans.
Ten years ago when Hurricane Katrina hovered, most thought it was going to be just another storm.
“I thought it was gonna be a Category 4. The wind was blowing, the rain was coming. We were trying to help people board their houses up,” recalled Dickerson.
Then the levees broke and tragedy let loose.
“People were panicking, going in stores, taking cars off lots. Everything was out the norm. Furniture was turned upside down, dressers, water, mildew,” he said.
Dickerson`s family headed North on I-55 to Memphis.
“My wife said ‘my sister lives in Memphis. We are gonna go to Memphis’,” he said.
He said it was a big transition, but over the past 10 years Dickerson`s family has finally gotten to a place of comfort.
They purchased a home in Southeast Memphis and he started his own business.
His wife began teaching.
Her job has kept them in Memphis, though he longs for home.
“I think about New Orleans everyday. I cry sometimes, still cry. When I get home sick I get my flags and I second-line dance,” said Dickerson.
He showed us the traditional New Orleans second-line dance, that comes after the jazz band.
Memories and pictures filled his garage
“Anything that reminds me of home, I have to have it around here now,” said Dickerson.
Those famous Mardi Gras beads, aren’t lost at the Dickersons’ home.
They actually hung from the trees.
For now he said his memorabilia will suffice as a reminder of what was lost in the storm.
Fifteen friends died and others are still missing.
“We looked for people. That’s why I still got my same phone number right now. I never changed my phone number hoping someday someone will call and say ‘I am alright’,” he said. “I wished it would have never happened. It’s like a dream. In fact I want to wake up sometimes and it be like I am back in New Orleans.”
Dickerson will get his taste of New Orleans very soon.
He is going back to visit next week and plans on doing his second-line dance at home.
