Frank

Let's talk about Frank.



I met Frank while in Louisiana, shooting family portraits. (See archives for previous posts about the St. Bernard Project

I met Frank at the St. Bernard Project offices, which he owns the building of. He was sitting, talking with a few of the staff. I happened to be there picking up or dropping off equipment that day. We talked for a bit and I offered to take his portrait, along with the other families who received homes from St. Bernard Project. He agreed and we set up our photo shoot date.

I didn't know his story at the time, but knew he had one. He showed up early for his portrait and we sat and talked. I went in for his flood story and was completely overtaken with emotion.

Frank is older in his young life and to think of what he went through when the flood occurred, I couldn't help but well up with tears. He talked about how he was on the 2nd story floor of the current St. Bernard Project building. He just so happens to have a quaint apartment up there. The hurricane came and went...but then it flooded. Unsure of what he was going to do, he devised a plan.

Here was his plan:


That my friends is a contraption he made as he decided he was going to have to leave the building and float on out. No one had come around on boats yet to get people out that were trapped in their buildings. What you are looking at is a styrofoam airplane in the front. Frank apparently had hundreds of these styrofoam planes. He filled 2 pillowcases full of the planes, tied them together with wire, placed them on this chair and he thought he was going to head out the window of his 2nd floor apartment and float/kick to another building.

Here's him demonstrating with a sweet laugh how it was gonna go down:


So now...I ask you to think about that situation. He had made a large white flag which he put outside the window to notify someone was left in building and needed help. Not long after he created his man made "floaties" a Chalmette local who in a boat, came up to Frank's 2nd story window and helped him out and to a new location.

He was taken on a bus out of Chalmette. He told of how he wore the same clothes for 18 days, was taken here and there, of how difficult it was just to get out of the city, then how difficult it was to get back into the city. The whole story was dramatic and overall difficult to hear.

I applaud you Frank for gracing myself with your story! I am thankful I met you and loved your "witty humor". I hope you are well, growing your peas and making people laugh and smile with your edgy variety! Take care!