--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Before Hurricane Katrina, I always felt…" description: "\"Before Hurricane Katrina, I always felt like I could come back home. And home was a real place, and also it had this mythical weight for me. Because of..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a3/jesmyn-ward-1426_come-home_before-hurricane-katrina-i-always-felt-l_1394996.png" --- # Before Hurricane Katrina, I always felt like I could come… ![“Before Hurricane Katrina, I always felt like I could come back home. And home was a real place, and also it had this mythical weight for me. Because of the way that Hurricane Katrina ripped everything away, it cast that idea in doubt.” quote by Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a3/jesmyn-ward-1426_come-home_before-hurricane-katrina-i-always-felt-l_1394996.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a3/jesmyn-ward-1426_come-home_before-hurricane-katrina-i-always-felt-l_1394996.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a3/jesmyn-ward-1426_come-home_before-hurricane-katrina-i-always-felt-l_1394996.png) > “Before Hurricane Katrina, I always felt like I could come back home. And home was a real place, and also it had this mythical weight for me. Because of the way that Hurricane Katrina ripped everything away, it cast that idea in doubt.” [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Traumatic events can shatter our sense of belonging, prompting a re‑evaluation of home and identity. **In simple terms:** Disasters can make us question where we belong. Key Takeaway Re‑define home through resilience and memory. Themes loss identity resilience Mood somber hopeful Type reflective inspirational When to use this quote - relocation - family reunions - community rebuilding Key Concepts place attachment memory post‑trauma adaptation Questions to Reflect On - How can you honor the past while building a new sense of home? - What rituals help restore a feeling of belonging? A Different Perspective Healing may be slow and the original home may be irretrievably changed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Come home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/come-home/) [Doubt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt/) [Everything](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/everything/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Home Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home-real-673357/) [Hurricane katrina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hurricane-katrina/) [Katrina Felt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/katrina-felt-4873263/) [Katrina Ripped](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/katrina-ripped-4873264/) [Place](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/place/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) ## Related quotes > [I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-have-come-home-at-last-this-is-my-real-country-i-belong-here-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My family and I survived Hurricane Katrina in 2005; we left my grandmother's flooding house, were refused shelter by a white family, and took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/my-family-and-i-survived-hurricane-katrina-in-2005-we-left-my/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [“My voice sounds like I have a cold, all the mucus from my crying lodged in my nose. A train, Mama said. Camille came,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/my-voice-sounds-like-i-have-a-cold-all-the-mucus-from-my-crying/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [“Junior, stop being orner.” It’s what Mama used to say to us when we were little, and I say it to Junior out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/junior-stop-being-orner-it-s-what-mama-used-to-say-to-us-when-we-were/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [“Listen to me, Ria. It will be different when you and I have a home. It will be a real home, one that people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maeve-binchy/listen-to-me-ria-it-will-be-different-when-you-and-i-have-a-home-it/) [Maeve Binchy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maeve-binchy/) > [“Adventures may be for the adventurous, but home is where the real things are sown and reaped, where in the end the real things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/adventures-may-be-for-the-adventurous-but-home-is-where-the-real/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [I believe that as energy prices rise, more of a home's real value will reside in renovations that reduce the operating cost of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-baeumler/i-believe-that-as-energy-prices-rise-more-of-a-home-s-real-value-will/) [Bryan Baeumler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-baeumler/) > [There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/there-is-nothing-like-staying-at-home-for-real-comfort/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“There is nothing like stying at home for real comfort”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/there-is-nothing-like-stying-at-home-for-real-comfort/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [When I'm at home, I'm a real big cuddler, so I sleep with my dog in my arms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mirai-nagasu/when-i-m-at-home-i-m-a-real-big-cuddler-so-i-sleep-with-my-dog-in-my/) [Mirai Nagasu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mirai-nagasu/) > [“We leave our home,” she pointed upwards, “and come here. When we’re done down here in the swamp of humanity, whatever you want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-saul/we-leave-our-home-she-pointed-upwards-and-come-here-when-we-re-done/) [Jonas Saul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-saul/) > [“Ah! There is nothing like staying at home, for real comfort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/ah-there-is-nothing-like-staying-at-home-for-real-comfort/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [I think I'm going to be making country records for as long as I can see into the future. It's much more down-home and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-young/i-think-i-m-going-to-be-making-country-records-for-as-long-as-i-can/) [Neil Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-young/) > [I love my community. I love always being able to come back and have a home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-love-my-community-i-love-always-being-able-to-come-back-and-have-a/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed levees and exploded the conventional wisdom about a shared American prosperity, exposing a group of people so poor they didn't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/hurricane-katrina-overwhelmed-levees-and-exploded-the-conventional/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) ## More by Jesmyn Ward > [I wanted to write about voodoo tradition that I feel has been very important to survival of black people here: people of the African…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-wanted-to-write-about-voodoo-tradition-that-i-feel-has-been-very/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [I think that voodoo as a spiritual tradition has been demonized for so long in popular culture. I wanted to write against that and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-think-that-voodoo-as-a-spiritual-tradition-has-been-demonized-for/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [There's so much I love about home, but then there's a lot that I can acknowledge that I dislike about home. And acknowledging that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/there-s-so-much-i-love-about-home-but-then-there-s-a-lot-that-i-can/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [“The dream of her was the glow of a spent fire on a cold night: warm and welcoming.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/the-dream-of-her-was-the-glow-of-a-spent-fire-on-a-cold-night-warm/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [The first writer that I think of immediately that I studied with at Michigan is Peter Ho Davies. He was really important to me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/the-first-writer-that-i-think-of-immediately-that-i-studied-with-at/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [I feel like so much of what happened in the Delta over the decades since slavery was abolished seems much closer in the Delta,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-feel-like-so-much-of-what-happened-in-the-delta-over-the-decades/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [“Vines catch my arms, my head; we tear through until we break out into the clearing before the fence, the field, the barn, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/vines-catch-my-arms-my-head-we-tear-through-until-we-break-out-into/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [“Before all the little mean things she told me gathered and gathered and lodged like grit in a skinned knee.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/before-all-the-little-mean-things-she-told-me-gathered-and-gathered/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [People give the South a bad rap. It's often stereotyped as backwards and close-minded and dogmatic, and all of those things have been true.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/people-give-the-south-a-bad-rap-it-s-often-stereotyped-as-backwards/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [By the time I wrote my memoir, 'Men We Reaped,' I had been running from writing it for a long time. When the events…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/by-the-time-i-wrote-my-memoir-men-we-reaped-i-had-been-running-from/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [When I was a teenager, I was the only black girl at a small, private Episcopal school, where my tuition was paid by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/when-i-was-a-teenager-i-was-the-only-black-girl-at-a-small-private/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [She was the murderous mother who cut us to the bone but left us alive, left us naked and bewildered as wrinkled newborn babies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/she-was-the-murderous-mother-who-cut-us-to-the-bone-but-left-us-alive/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [I hope people who read my books feel empathy for us and really see us as complicated people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-hope-people-who-read-my-books-feel-empathy-for-us-and-really-see-us/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [When I was writing my first novel, 'Where the Line Bleeds,' which had young black men as its main characters, I was very invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/when-i-was-writing-my-first-novel-where-the-line-bleeds-which-had/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [“Lot of folks was in there for stealing food because everybody was poor and starving, and even though White people couldn’t get your work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/lot-of-folks-was-in-there-for-stealing-food-because-everybody-was/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) [Explore all 242 Jesmyn Ward quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) ## More Come home quotes > [“Your salvation would be hollow if you don't help each other come home. Remember we are family, and families leave no one behind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-stewart/your-salvation-would-be-hollow-if-you-don-t-help-each-other-come-home/) [Chris Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-stewart/) > [“I think you should come home with me tonight and we can talk about it," she said "Ready when you are”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaci-burton/i-think-you-should-come-home-with-me-tonight-and-we-can-talk-about-it/) [Jaci Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaci-burton/) > [It all begins and ends in the same place, doesn't it? Conor and me in Ballyutogue. We all come home eventually.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-uris/it-all-begins-and-ends-in-the-same-place-doesn-t-it-conor-and-me-in/) [Leon Uris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-uris/) > [You do your job, you come home, and then like try and drown out the rest. I think it's a really important mindset to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-corrin/you-do-your-job-you-come-home-and-then-like-try-and-drown-out-the/) [Emma Corrin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-corrin/) > [The chickens have come home to roast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-ace/the-chickens-have-come-home-to-roast/) [Jane Ace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-ace/) > [ It's sad if people think that's (homemaking) a dull existance, \[but\] you can't just buy an apartment and furnish it and walk away. It's… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-hepburn/it-s-sad-if-people-think-that-s-homemaking-a-dull-existance-but-you/) [Audrey Hepburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-hepburn/) > [No matter what I do, I always come home to my blog.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-mullenweg/no-matter-what-i-do-i-always-come-home-to-my-blog/) [Matt Mullenweg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-mullenweg/) > [We are the only animals that let our kids come back home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/we-are-the-only-animals-that-let-our-kids-come-back-home/) [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) > [I'd like to keep work work and life life. It means you've got your life to come back to, somewhere to come home to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcavoy/i-d-like-to-keep-work-work-and-life-life-it-means-you-ve-got-your/) [James McAvoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcavoy/) > [“Some men still haven’t come home from this war. And some men never will.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-medeiros/some-men-still-haven-t-come-home-from-this-war-and-some-men-never-will/) [Teresa Medeiros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-medeiros/) > [I miss you Mom. Come home, please...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-miss-you-mom-come-home-please/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's nice to have someone to come home to and get the honest truth about all aspects of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-smith/it-s-nice-to-have-someone-to-come-home-to-and-get-the-honest-truth/) [Steve Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-smith/) > [Today, I can report that, as promised, the rest of our troops in Iraq will come home by the end of the year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/today-i-can-report-that-as-promised-the-rest-of-our-troops-in-iraq/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [“How could I have guessed that I would never really be able to come home?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-poser/how-could-i-have-guessed-that-i-would-never-really-be-able-to-come/) [Claudia Poser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-poser/) > [“Come home with me, Karissa. "My breath hitches. "That's not a question." "Doesn't matter," he says. "Come home with me, anyway.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-darhower/come-home-with-me-karissa-my-breath-hitches-that-s-not-a-question/) [J.M. Darhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-darhower/) [Browse all 353 Come home quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/come-home/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Before Hurricane Katrina, I always felt like I could come back home. And home was a real place, and also it had this mythical weight for me. 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