Janet's Gift

I told the story some time ago of “Sally,” the woman whose brother was killed helping her clean out from under Hurricane Katrina.

Her real name is Susie Sharp and I ended up staying for the last three weeks of my tour in a trailer on her property. She told me then that she had a new phone line, as she rented land out for a microwave station on her spread. She told me that there was unlimited long distance calling available and that I should use the phone in the trailer anytime I wanted.

So, I did. I called Marian for coffee in the morning and a chat before bed. I e-mailed and posted and did research on the internet. After I returned home, Eileen Powers used Susie’s trailer and went to use the phone one night. It had been cut off. Apparently, that free long distance was for calls within the US only! They wanted more than $1000 for the bill....

Susie spoke with them and worked a fee per call deal that lowered the bill to $200. I called her and told her I would look after it. She told me to wait until she actually got the bill. In the meantime, a local woman caught wind of this, and on Susie’s and my behalf, paid it in full.

Here is a bit of her story:

“I know Susie. She is one of the hardest working women that you will ever meet. She has had a rough year. Lost her husband, then her brother, now her business and her home. I can't tell you how much HOPE that you give to Pearlington. Every time someone comes into town to help it shows that someone does care and that we can move ahead. It is so hard to sit in the muck and the mire day after day and try to dig ourselves out of this destruction.

I stayed for the storm with my father, husband and 14 year old son. We got on my father’s shrimp boat by jet ski and flat boat, in the eye of the storm - quite an experience. We lost my parent’s newly rebuilt home, originally destroyed in a fire in 2003, and the home that my husband and I were building. It's not a total loss. We can gut and rebuild. The frame is good, but no insurance. We have had a lot of help from individuals and private Christian groups. We could never have done what we have without their help. I don't have a lot of money and can never pay forward all of the help that has been given.

I am blessed to have a government job (I am just a peon here but I have a job). I also now have a car and because I work for the Navy, they have rented me a 32 foot travel trailer for $1.00 a day, which I get reimbursed for at the end of each month. I also have HOPE from individuals who show that they care. I will never be able to repay or pay forward all that has been given to me and my family. If you think of anything else that I can do, please contact me.

Janet Dawson
Resident of Pearlington, MS”


Thank you, Janet. Those calls saved my sanity and helped me do what I do. Thank you for caring, in the midst of your own challenges.