NEW ORLEANS — Brian and LaChandra McGowan's lives are still in disarray.

A year after Hurricane Katrina destroyed their home and ravaged their city, they're in Dallas, where they moved "temporarily." That government trailer they've been waiting on for months has yet to materialize, and they're only now starting to rebuild their home.

And their close-knit family is strewn across the country — some in Phoenix, some in Baltimore, only one sibling in New Orleans.

Yet when it came time to renew their Saints season tickets, Brian McGowan never hesitated.

"I said, `Brian, we lost everything we had. We have nothing. We're fighting with the insurance company and FEMA, and you're going to spend money we don't have to hold onto these tickets?"' LaChandra McGowan recalled.

"He said, `That's all I have left and I won't let them go. We'll put it on a credit card, we'll do whatever it takes. I won't let them go."'

Sure enough, the McGowans and their two sons were back in New Orleans on Sunday. Their trip will be brief, time enough to see some family and friends and the Saints' triumphant return home. But their presence — and that of thousands others like them — is as much a testament to the loyalty of Saints fans as to the resilience of the city itself.

The Saints reopen the Superdome on Monday night with a game against Atlanta that's got all the trappings of a Super Bowl, from a performance by U2 to an appearance by the first President Bush to media from around the globe. More than anything, though, the game will be a celebration of one of the country's most unique cities, and the people who call it home.

"It's the beginning for New Orleans to come alive again," said Beverly Broussard, a season-ticket holder who has been making the three-hour trip from Mamou, La., for years now. "It's a celebration of life, back in our city."

New Orleans has always had a unique — albeit complicated — relationship with the Saints. The team has been dismal for most of its existence, not finishing with a winning record until 1987 and managing it only six times since then. Legend has it that the tradition of embarrassed fans donning paper bags began here, and the team was often derided as the "Aints."

But much like Green Bay and its beloved Packers, the Saints are considered family in New Orleans. You may not like them much sometimes, but they're yours and the only one you've got.

Fans filled the dome year after year, and the city's mood rose and fell with the team's won-loss record. Monica Ramsey took her devotion one step further, decorating her kitchen with Saints wallpaper, curtains and a rug, and topping it all off with a black and gold ceiling fan.