By RICHARD BORDELON

OPINION EDITOR

Forsan et haec olim meminisse juvabit.

Aeneas tells his companions this in the beginning of Virgil’s Aeneid, one of the greatest works of Western literature. He and his troops had just weathered a storm while fleeing from their home, Troy, to their new home in modern-day Italy. The storm,  brought about by Aeolus, the keeper of those winds, who was ordered by the gods to unleash the winds blew the men off their course homeward. Their ships came to stop in Queen Dido’s Carthage on the shores of North Africa.

“Someday even these things will be pleasing to remember,” Aeneas tells them.

In 2005, I was in seventh grade; I had just turned 13 and was excited for the brand-new year of school.  It started off well. I liked my teachers and was looking forward to the year ahead.  Monday, Aug. 29, from a hotel room in Memphis, I, without an inkling of what was to come, watched from afar as a storm battered my city, my home.

The next day, I woke up to the sight of Brian Williams on NBC standing on a flooded Canal Street in the heart of New Orleans, delivering a breaking news report about the aftermath of the hurricane.

The levees broke, and the pumps were not operational. Looting was widespread, and people were starving in the Superdome and the Convention Center.  Reports began to flood in from across the city.  All I could do was sit there in southern Tennessee, helpless.

I was not sure how to feel about this. I was numb. Amidst my parents’ worrying and frantic attempts to try to find out if our house was flooded and if our neighbors who decided to stay behind were able to get out as the water continued to rise, one thing remained constant — the smile on my little sister’s face.

She still had joy. Admittedly, she did not know exactly what was going on back home, but her happiness stood in stark contrast to the attitude of most New Orleanians at the time. Her cheerfulness and complete optimism was desperately needed at a time like this.

My house was, thankfully, not badly damaged. But many of my friends and family, including my grandmother, lost nearly everything. The city needed help. Violence had been widespread, and destruction was everywhere.  But, just as my sister showed, there was hope, and there was joy.  But why be joyful during a sorrowful time? Why should we hold on to happiness when there is tragedy all around?

Virgil teaches us quite a lesson in his epic poem, particularly with Aeneas’s words in this instance. No matter what happens, no matter how bad or how destructive something may be, there is the hope that in the end, everything will be better. The people, the city and the region will be better for it. Such bad things can eventually be an impetus for change for the better.

Hurricane Katrina has provided this impetus for the city. Before the storm, the city was corruption-ridden, the citizens were apathetic and the community was detached.  It seemed like New Orleans was stuck in a slump.

New Orleans, however, has seen what it was and now has seized the opportunity to change for the better. The government has grown from a corrupt institution to driving force for change in the city led by a mayor with a great vision for the city. Years of rebuilding, renovations and improvements have thrust New Orleans into the modern age.

The Superdome has been completely renovated, and the airport has also had vast improvements.  Areas of the city that were once flooded in Aug. 2009 with anywhere from six to nine feet of water are back stronger than ever, with plenty of restaurants and shops open for business. Many say that these many improvements that occured during this rebirth and revitalization of New Orleans have culminated with the hosting of Super Bowl XLVII this Sunday.

These changes probably would not have happened if not for Hurricane Katrina.

This is not to say that the storm and its destruction were good, but it is now pleasing to look back and see the result of a community working together to overcome a tremendous obstacle. Before the storm, New Orleans was lazy, content with the status quo and stubborn to change. After the storm, the community came together like never before to begin the rebuilding of a city.

Whatever disaster may befall your life, whether it be something like hurricane Sandy or Katrina or a death in the family or rejection or failure, there will be a lesson learned, an experience remembered.

There is joy to be had, and although one may not feel that way at the onset of tragedy, it is present. It will appear, and you will be better for it.

These things, even the most tragic, will be pleasing to remember.