My name is Pearce Grieshaber and I am a New Orleanian. I was born there on November 10th, 1978 and attended grammar school, high school, and college in New Orleans. I have a love and attachment for the Crescent City that I find inexplicable. As Louis Armstrong once said, “If you have to ask, you’ll never know.”
I was working as a waiter in NOLA when the hurricane hit on August 29th, 2005. Jobless, I was able to tread by on savings, but then my FEMA money was beginning to run out. Wth my money dwindling and uncertain of what the post-hurricane economy in New Orleans may be like, I moved to New York City, stayed with friends while I found a job, and then after that an apartment. I started life in New York with the full intention of returning as soon as the time was right, so I decided I would return by bicycle… my favorite way of traveling long distances.
I have made many friends here in this city but there are many factors which pull me back home. New Orleans is more than a city; it is a culture, a state of mind, a place unlike any other. I guess more than anything, she is my home and I must go back there... not only because she needs me there, but because I belong there. Just being a citizen in New Orleans these days is a commitment and it is one that I can not wait to take.
I work as a waiter in New York at a New Orleans restaurant. Most of my friends, both from work and not, are New Orleanians or at least have a very close conection to the city. To the New Orleanians I never have to explain my decision to return; they just know. The others marvel at the allegiance of a populace to a geographic location.
One of New Orleans’ greatest assets are her musicians, and this is why I am raising money for the New Orleans Musician’s Clinic. I believe that musicians are a large part of what makes the city the beautiful, creative, wonderful place that she is. They are but one of the many things that I look forward to upon returning in mid-October.
With the days of summer beginning to wane in the last days of August, the weather is starting to look favorable for my departure. I have chosen August 29th as the date that I shall leave New York for my journey home. When I return, I plan to start yet again. I have my eyes fixed on the New Orleans Fire Department as a possible new line of work in my new New Orleans.
To make a donation to the clinic, please go to http://www.neworleansmusiciansclinic.org/
