One of my favorite things about New Orleans is how we’re allowed to live. No matter what neighborhood you’re from or what town you were born in, if you call yourself a New Orleanian, you are like everyone else who calls this place home. We're a little crazy, a whole lot of fun, and living by the same code: laissez les bon temps rouler -- French for, “let the good times roll.” We laugh too loud, stay out too late, drink too much, and eat food that would make any cardiologist concerned. New Orleans is a city like no other and that’s why we put down roots here.

New Orleans has survived, longer and stronger than anyone would have expected. Founded in 1718, the city of New Orleans (née La Nouvelle Orléans) is older than the United States of America. Founded by the French, then ruled by the Spanish, the French again, then sold to America in 1803, this city has seen so much in her nearly 300 years of existence. New Orleans has been flooded to the brim and burned to the ground. New Orleans has weathered the storms and become a better city for it. 

Growing up in New Orleans, I thought every city was like it. I didn’t know it wasn’t normal to have Mardi Gras, or “hurrications,” and that in some places it was illegal for my parents to bring wine to a picnic in Audubon Park. I just assumed every city had haunted buildings and voodoo stories, live music on street corners and festivals on the weekends. But this city is like no other. 

We live in a blessed place, where culture and history is steeped in every cobblestone. There is a story to tell at every turn -- whether happy or sad, scary or romantic, something has happened there and will forever be remembered. The moment you step off that plane, get out of that car, or are carried out of Touro (“where the babies come from!”), you become a part of this history and you have a hand in her future.      

After Hurricane Katrina, a lot of people left New Orleans for dead. Some went so far as to say that the world would be better without her. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. This city is too full of life to ever die. To describe New Orleanians, Chris Rose wrote, “Equanimity courses through our blood as much as platelets and nitrogen -- it is part of our DNA -- so she was determined to return, rebuild, recover.”

This city is for the strong-willed and survivors, for people who can find joy in the darkest of times. But, if you’re not one of these people, New Orleans will still wrap you up in her warmth and keep you safe.      

New Orleans is a place that can save your soul and breathe life and love into every single one of her residents. Whether you’re a transplant or a native, you will grow and thrive here as the city becomes a part of you.