It’s enough to worry a parent — sending your first-born daughter to live in New Orleans. Then weathermen forecast a huge hurricane.
Not to worry, Mom and Dad, she told them. I’ll be fine.
That’s what Barry and Barbara McBride of Mocksville had to deal with two weeks ago when Hurricane Isaac set its sights on the Big Easy. They weren’t so easy with the ominous forecast.
Their daughter Lesley, 23, graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2011 with a major in art history. She defied naysayers who predicted there would be no job in her future.
Only the job was in New Orleans, a town still jittery after Katrina flooded it during the Bush administration.
Reached by telephone last week, Lesley said she is in fact doing just fine after Isaac. “It wasn’t bad,” she said. “I stayed. Some people evacuated. I’ve seen it rain harder here than it did last week.”
Some trees were downed in her neighborhood. She lost electricity for a couple days. Her biggest concern was settling down her jittery mother by phone.
“I was a little bit panicky because my mother called wanting to know my plans. When she worries, I worry. But when I heard other people were staying, I thought I would be OK. The worst part was being cooped up and the winds and rain at night.”
New Orleans people divided into two camps — the types that pooh-poohed Isaac and the types who fled to Texas.
“Yes, it’s my first one,” she said of the hurricane. “I’m glad I’ve checked that off my list.”
She likes her new city. Aside from the Bourbon Street tourist area, she said the city has a small town atmosphere, much like Chapel Hill. “I was struck by how nice people are.”

Wayne Eaton

If funerals make you uncomfortable, consider Wayne Eaton who died last week at age 84. He must have attended thousands over his career as founder of Eaton’s Funeral Home of Mocksville.
He was always dignified, professional, quiet and respectful. No matter how hot the summer day, the Eaton’s staff always wore dark suits and didn’t let the grieving family see them …