Adolph and Mary Christmas

Neighborhood: Gentilly
Architecture Style: Bungalow

For three years after Hurricane Katrina displaced him from his Gentilly home, Adolph Christmas worked at a hotel in Lafayette. During his shifts, he often found himself on the east side of the building’s third floor, where the windows looked out onto Interstate 10. He was looking at the road to New Orleans; he longed to go home.

Adolph Christmas Sr., or ‘Dolphy’ as his wife Mary affectionately calls him, can tell you exactly how long he was displaced in Lafayette following the storm, right down to the week. It wasn’t because he and his family were struggling, as he had successfully managed to find an apartment and a job to help support his wife and three children. It was because he couldn’t bear the thought of being away from his home any longer.

“I was just so devastated being gone from New Orleans for three years, six months and two weeks,” he said. “I hardly talked to anyone. I said ‘good morning’ and greeted everyone in a respectful manner, but as far as going out and socializing with the neighborhood, I couldn’t do that because all I could think about was getting back home.”