Everywhere you look today people are wearing black and gold.

Tonight the Saints return to the Superdome for the first time since the levees failed in New Orleans. The entire season is sold out, Green Day and U-2 are playing before the pregame show, Goo Goo Dolls and Storyville Stompers are playing outside the dome prior to the game, the NFL experience is going to be there for the kids and the whole extravaganza is on national TV.

So, watch tonight and see how far we've come in the past year. Help us celebrate a year of hard sweat equity. Look at how many people are living and remaking a good life here. We have some schools open, some restaurants open, the zoo open, the aquarium open and we are very proud of how far we have come.

And then, remember how much more we have to do. There are still areas the size of Great Britain that are mostly uninhabited. Miles and miles of homes, businesses, schools, and churches still need to be repaired. Imagine the fallen down home on an old country road and then imagine your entire neighborhodd still looking that way.

Push your Senators and Representatives to fulfill their promises to this area. Hold the Corps of Engineers and those responsible for their funding accountable. Think of what it says about the United States if an American city is left in devastation.

Be a New Orleanian wherever you are.