Community

[Amanda]

Hi everyone! Happy Friday! It's been wonderful chatting with you this week.


I wanted to end on an uplifting note. When researching THE SECOND LIFE OF MIRIELLE WEST, I was surprised by how committed many of the residents were to making a community at Carville. They started a newspaper, threw parties at Christmas and Mardi Gras and Fourth of July, raised money to support the troops during WWII, created bands and book clubs and sports teams. All of this with almost no access to the outside world. Of course, there were stories I read about during my research that surprised me by their sorrow and cruelty too. But it was residents’ support of one another and determination to make meaningful lives for themselves that truly inspired me.


Community—large or small—is more important now than ever. What’s something that you do to stay connected to your community?