Fragile heirloom survives amid home's wreckage

Laurie Miller lost nearly everything else when Katrina hit Biloxi, Miss.
By JEANNE STARMACK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- An antique cut-glass celery dish wouldn't be a likely Katrina survivor, but there it was, intact, where Laurie Miller's beachfront home had stood only three days earlier.
Miller, who is staying with her mother, Marjorie Miller, in Cornersburg, said she found a piece of her house's siding two blocks back from her property in Biloxi, Miss. She said there was no sign of any of her big furniture -- not her dressers, or her couch.
"But we found my great-great-grandmother's celery dish just sitting there on the ground, not broken," she said.
She has nothing else left.
Miller and her daughter, Kristy Mooneyham of Gulfport, Miss., fled their homes to stay with friends in Pensacola, Fla., the day before Katrina hit. Mooneyham, whose husband, Jeremy, a deputy sheriff, stayed behind because of his job, also is here in Youngstown.
Mooneyham said she and her mother were allowed back in to their neighborhoods Aug. 31. After stopping first in Gulfport, they went to Biloxi, with the normally 15-minute trip between those two cities taking about two hours, she said.
The Mooneyhams' home in Gulfport has water damage, and part of the roof is blown off, Mooneyham said. "We made out pretty good."
But Miller's abode didn't fare as well.
"At mom's house, there's nothing left."
Lost nearly everything
Miller said she can't make it through the days without grieving for friends she knows perished in the storm.
"I've lost a lot of friends. My friend across the street -- he wasn't leaving," she said. "He's deceased."
Miller, who worked in a casino, said the casino isn't completely gone, but for now, she has no job.
She has no access to money, she said, and right now, she needs food and clothes.
A really aggravating problem, she added, is that she lost her eyeglasses and she has no contact lenses. She has a copy of her eyeglass prescription with her, but has no way to pay to have glasses made. She said she also needs food for her animals -- four dogs and four cats.
She said calls to several agencies hadn't yet led to any solutions. She said anyone who can help her can call her at (228) 348-6907, (228) 324-0259, or (330) 270-1978.