DAYTON, Ohio — In 2005, Marie Howenstine told me, "My gut feeling is that we're probably not going back to New Orleans."
At the time, her family was living in Beavercreek, Ohio, with husband Rick's brother, Mike Howenstine, and his wife, Gina. Their young sons, Addison and Austin, enrolled in Beavercreek schools. They found themselves among tens of thousands of evacuees being assimilated into the homes of friends and family members all across the United States.
Contrary to Marie's prediction, they're now among the legions causing New Orleans to rank as the fastest-growing city in the United States. According to a government report released this month, the city's population grew by 8.2 percent in the 12 months ending July 1, 2008.
The week before Christmas 2005, Marie decided to move back home with sons Addison and Austin. Rick had already returned to New Orleans to tend to his business, a furniture company called Wood'n Things. "It was a Sunday morning and I was leaving to go to church in the freezing rain," Marie recalled. "My car was wrapped in ice and I spent an hour chiseling it out."
She called Rick and demanded, "You have got to come get us!"
The New Orleans native had warmed to the Beavercreek community, but not to Ohio winters. Besides, it was time to go home.
Rick turned out to be in a Katrina-proof line of work. He expanded his staff from five to 10 to keep up with post-Katrina demand.
"I was selling furniture with a hole in my roof," Rick recalled.
The family had insurance on its home in the historic Algiers neighborhood, but not for the business, which sustained $200,000 in damage.
His company posted its best year ever in 2006, and business has been steady ever since, despite the fact that roughly three-fourths of his previous customers had left town. "Because of the need for kitchens, we have refocused on installing kitchens and cabinetry," Rick said.
His work seems symbolic of the communal effort to restore one of America's most architecturally significant cities. "It feels good to be helping people and to be helped at the same time, since they're supporting our business," Rick said.
They've heard nearly every imaginable hard-luck story. "We felt like counselors and social workers," Marie said.
Crime is worse than before. "Someone I know was killed a couple of weeks ago," Rick said. "It's stressful. We think about leaving, but this is home."
They explored the possibility of moving to Tennessee, but decided to stay primarily because of the boys' excellent charter school. "Our kids' school is a melting pot of the whole world," Marie observed. "It's what New Orleans really is, and what the real world is all about."
They feel grateful for their sojourn in Beavercreek, and closer than ever to Rick's brother and his family. "We want to thank everyone in Beavercreek and across the nation who helped out," Marie said. "And Mike and Gina were so great with the way they handled this other family moving in with little kids, invading their home and their privacy."
In our own small way, the Dayton community has done its part to bring this great American city back to life.
Mary McCarty writes for the Dayton Daily News. E-mail: mmccarty(at)DaytonDailyNews.com.