On last year’s trip, our colleague, Barbara Thomas, had a chance meeting with a life-long New Orleans native who witnessed unfathomable horrors when the levees broke. Mr. Rene Penny works – seven days a week – as the head cook at the Hotel Monteleone. His shift began this morning at 7:00 a.m. and he finished at 10:00 p.m., afterwhich, he stopped by our hotel to visit and share his deeply emotional experiences with Kathryn, Janelle, Maria, and me.
