What Would You Take?

With all the media talking about devastation of Katrina, it made Ted and I think about what would we do if we were evacuated from our home? If we had 48 hours notice, what would we take? Where would we go? Some people chose to stay with relatives in another city. We figured we could go to Kansas City to stay with an Aunt, but other than that, all of our relatives are here. So we thought about it. What would we really do? Would we take both cars? Probably. Why not? Then we would go to storage and pick up our trailer. We'd pack it with clothes, food, flashlights, batteries, video camera, camera, laptop, computer, ceramic heater, toiletries, game boy, cell phones, insurance paperwork, legal documents (marriage license, birth certificates, title to the house, etc), family videos, albums, calendars, journals, memory boxes, stroller, diapers, etc. We'd leave the furniture, bikes, appliances (luckily we have some in the trailer), jewelry (I have nothing worth anything...my wedding ring is lost), etc. We'd call our families and pick a campground that was safe from the disaster and has full hook ups and we'd have our own shower, toilet, water, heat, air, clothes and food. Gee, aren't we lucky. The poor didn't have any of those options or conveniences.

If I had a car and no trailer...then what would I take? Anything that cannot be bought or is small enough to take (we have a Suburban...so extra space is available. Maybe only one change of clothes per person, laptop, computer CPU, camera, video camera, legal documents, journals, calendars, cell phones, stroller, diapers, etc. I'd leave the memory boxes (all stuff I've saved that the kids have made or accomplished), but we'd still have room for the albums.

OK...what if we ran out of gas and couldn't fill up. What would we be able to take on foot? Well, assuming we each could carry a bag, we'd have to leave the albums, bring the CD's of digital pictures and some negatives, take out the hard drive from the CPU (see how important our computer is??), legal documents, change of clothes, credit cards, ID, cell phones, game boy (why not? It's small!), digital camera, diaper bag, snacks and stroller.

It would be hard to give up my journals and documentations on the kids...but really, the most important thing would be having them there with me so we could make more memories! It makes you realize how much stuff you have that is really unessential.

What would you take?