Raggedy Ann & Andy

Story shared by Angie Roberson
    On Friday, August 12, the Roberson family lifted the belongings of their home to where everything sat safely above the knee. Each of their four family members packed a weekend bag and headed to Baton Rouge to stay with family members. They were anticipating around a foot of water – the same amount the home received in the 1983 floods. Two days later, they received an image of the water up to the roof of their home from a neighbor who was able to access the neighborhood by boat.
    By Tuesday, they were able to get back into the neighborhood and like most others in Central, begin the gutting process. Everything had to go. The six feet of water that sat in their home had destroyed everything. Military memorabilia from Zac Roberson’s time in the Navy, photo albums, their children’s precious school mementos, and family heirloom quilts, afghans, and even a Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy set of cloth dolls, sewn by Angie Roberson’s great grandmother. 
    The Raggedy Ann and Andy had been set aside the first day of clean up in hopes of being able to salvage them. But just one day later, they were covered in mold. They too, went on top of the debris pile.
    A week after the floods, a friend of Angie’s came to their home. Melissa Enis had just recently moved from the Central area and had come back for the weekend to offer some support. While they stood outside of the home, Melissa asked about Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy. Angie told the story of the dolls that had been handed down to her and they both collectively sighed in sadness. 
    After hugs and good byes, they each drove in their opposite directions. Melissa, back to her home in Shreveport, and Angie, back to her temporary home in Baton Rouge.
    A week later, Melissa returned with a team of fifty people from her new church in Shreveport, Grace United Methodist Church. The team was housed at Camp Istrouma and worked in our surrounding communities in helping elderly and disabled individuals gut their homes. Knowing the daunting work all too well, Angie and two of her youth group members from Blackwater United Methodist, Miranda Buhler and D.J. Gautreau, brought popsicles to Melissa’s team one afternoon. While there, Melissa shared that she had a surprise. 
    Miranda pulled out her phone and began recording. Melissa and D.J. retrieved a box and handed it to Angie. Having been in youth ministry for several years, she was mostly expecting something to jump out at her. Nervously, she opened the box. And inside were her Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy dolls!
    Melissa shared later that she had to turn around and try to save them. She couldn’t fix the home but she could fix these two things that were oh so dear to Angie. And she did. She, along with the two youth group members, Miranda and D.J., scrubbed and washed, scrubbed and washed, until those two dolls were sparkling! A new pair of pants had to be made for Andy, and Melissa lovingly sewed a new pair for him out of one of her daughter’s dresses. 
    There were many, many tears shed after getting those dolls. Not just because of the dolls, but because of the labor of love that it took to save them. So much has been lost for the Robersons, their neighbors, and their community. But there has been love to spare!