Brian and Ellie Lawlor are fine souls. Thats what Im thinking about as I sit here and I just needed to put it in print is all.

I briefly mentioned this fact in my first post, but its worth expanding on a bit.

Brian and Ellie offered to be my (Sponsors), again MY terminology, not theirs. Theyre too modest for such language. They are sponsoring me by putting me up for free in their wonderful Uptown shotgun for my entire time here in New Orleans. They would not accept any money from me, and I offered a few times. This housing is in exchange for my time volunteering here in the city. They were less interested in money and more interested in providing a platform from which I could dive in to city projects and be as helpful as possible. It was a match made in heaven. I wanted to volunteer my time. They wanted to help the city in some other way than sending another check. We all wanted to give back to New Orleans. And we found a great way to do that together.

My Uncle, Tim Trapolin, introduced me to Brian and Ellie when I came down for Mardi Gras last March. We hit it off immediately and had a blast dressing up, drinking too much and yelling for more beads. They were in from New York where they live an hour outside of Albany. Over the last few years, Brain & Ellie have developed a serious crush on New Orleans. Each year they have made it a priority to visit when they can and party when they must; Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, ect. But last year their crush grew to the point where they had to bite the bullet and just go ahead and buy a second home, 2000 miles from their permanent address. The deal was sealed on their new home, a block off St. Charles, a few months before Katrina. It put some serious bumps in the road for their renovation project, but they were lucky enough to sustain only minimal damage. And there it sits. Every now and then, someone showing up to fix this or fix that. Well, when I finally decided to head home and work, I shot them an email and asked if I could rent their house while they were away and I was there. I explained what I wanted to do, volunteering for 6 weeks ect, and outlined what my time might look like for those weeks. They got back to me and right off the bat said they would not accept any money and instead were more interested in providing a place, (apparently both physically and monetarily) from where I could access the city and be able to help out in town. I then (countered) and offered to pay their note and utilities. They shot that down too. And it was only after wrangling that they finally conceded to letting me work around their house a bit too. Even as just a thank you. Were talkin serious generosity here.

Brian and Ellie Lawlor are good souls. I know Ive said it a few times now, but its worth repeating again. Its folks like them that are bringing New Orleans back to life.

LONG LIVE B&E!!!