Dear Editor:

Do you love your mother or father? Do you love your brother and sister? Do you love your cousin? Do you love your wife? Do you love your husband? Do you love your girlfriend? Do you love your boyfriend?

Can you answer yes to all of these questions?

If you saw a good friend with a flat tire on the side of the road, would you pull over to help him or her?

What I’m trying to illustrate to all is you’re supposed to love each other.

If your brother had scheduled surgery and needed five pints of blood, would you be glad to donate a pint to him?

Would you call other brothers or sisters to help with a donation to help him?

Has the thought of an alternate location other than the Oak Grove Community been considered, like another site with fewer cemeteries, fewer homes to be demolished, fewer people to be displaced against their will.

It looks like a site that has been supported in the past is the Ben’s Creek Community.

The state of Louisiana has a $1.6 billion deficit and is already beginning to cut some department workers’ schedules from five days a week down to four days a week.

We understand that more cuts are coming.

I’m just an old country boy, but the alternate site that has been mentioned with fewer houses, trailers and cemeteries would be a less costly venture.

With the state already cutting back on workers’ hours and more cuts to come, they might stop and consult with those who control the budget to see if they think this venture is logical with the state facing such a deficit.

With the Oak Grove Community being chosen two times in a row, cost of the venture doesn’t seem to be a factor with them because we’ve heard nothing about an alternate site.

These reservoir people state that the reason for the 3,262-acre reservoir in the Oak Grove Community in Washington Parish is potable water.

The question I’d like to ask is why did they wait several years from round one to round two that we’re in now.

Potable water must not be so important.

As I mentioned in the first portion of the letter, we should love each other.

Now, do you think these reservoir people love the people in the Oak Grove Community when they can come into your yard and present you with a check and give you so many days to leave your home and property, and, yes, you have no right to refuse to sell.

I’m confused. Do we live in Louisiana or is this Cuba?

By the way, I’ve been taking care of my mother, who is 93, for more than 20 years. She has been living in this house for 60 years and tells me that this is her last stop before the cemetery.

– Ed and Mamie McDonald