The Dollioles, an enduring New Orleans family now scattered across the southern U.S., evacuated, for the most part, before Hurricane Katrina hit, and returned to find their houses uninhabitable, their possessions destroyed. Many, like my mother Jeanette Dolliole Sylvester, whose house was ruined, are determined to return and rebuild.

In truth, New Orleans will only re-emerge as the singular New Orleans loved by many, the great spirited city of deep soul and uncommon verve, if people like my mother — a native whose heart and soul is one with the place — re-establish themselves in their hometown.

"I want my life back," my mother, who is in Baton Rouge, says. "I want New Orleans."

This site is one effort intended to help her in her determined effort to get back to her beloved city.

For more of the Dolliole story, click here.

To Read Lynette's columns on New Orleans and family, click here.