“How are you, Sue Sue?” To which she answers: “Trying to survive. It is discouraging. I am on oxygen. I just wish I could get up. But, they have to pick me up with the lift and I don’t think I need that.” I tell her that I think it is for her safety that the lift is necessary. She answers: “I know, but, I am tired in bed. I want to just be able to get up when I want to and sit in my chair for a while.” For someone who has spent her life in service to others, I tease her that she wishes she could go back to her work with Mrs. Darby. And, she does.

Sue Sue has lost her hair after chemo and for a time she wore a turban. Now, I tease her that I like her hairdo and we laugh a bit.

I remember Sue Sue as the one who assisted Beverly Ousse Darby, our Arnaudville High School Home Economics teacher who, along with my dear mother, tried to teach me many nice things. I’m not certain that, as Mom would say: “I applied myself.” I remember that Mrs. Darby had wanted children so badly. When they finally started arriving, it was Lorena “NuNu” Powell and Sue Sue who were there to help her. Sue Sue tells me that she worked with Mrs. Darby for 35 years. She names the Darby children with as much pride as if these were her own: “Boys were Joseph, John and James and the girls were Joy and Jackie.”

I learned that Mrs. Darby and Sue Sue shopped together. They would go to Abadallas’ and Sam’s. Sue Sue did some personal shopping, too, and when she found things she needed, Mrs. Darby would buy them and Sue Sue would pay her back. When Joy and Jackie had homes of their own, Mrs. Darby and Sue Sue frequently visited them and Sue Sue would clean their homes. Sue Sue would also clean the Darby Camp and the Darby Warehouse. Some of the favorite Darby family meals she prepared were gumbos, spaghetti and baked chicken.

But, Sue Sue did even more. The Nursing Home Administrator, Harriet Morrow Lofton, tells me that when she was a child, Sue Sue worked there at the Morrow home of Dr. Bobby Ms. Teacup. It was Sue Sue who did the ironing; and, there were 9 children in the Morrow family! Later, Sue Sue worked in the homes of both Sis LaPorte and Harriet Lofton, two of the Morrow girls. Sue Sue worked for Sis LaPorte for 26 years. On the day I visited Sue Sue, she had a picture of Jesus that “Mrs. LaPorte” had brought her. It is now hanging on her closet door right in front of her bed. She wanted to be able to see it from her bed. I can sense the love and respect Sue Sue has for the Darby and the Morrow families.

Sue Sue is the daughter of Gurley and Mabel Dartez White. They worked on the Dewey Singleton farm where potatoes, cotton and corn were planted. Sue Sue’s mother worked cleaning the house for the Rodney Bernard family. The Whites had 5 children—2 boys and 3 girls. Wesley, Leroy, Annabelle “Sue Sue” Richard, Mary “Noot,” Porch and Ezola “Sis” Rivette. They all worked doing farm labor. There is only Mary and Sue Sue left. I know Mary. She worked for my uncle Larry Arnaud and his first wife, Beverly Moran, for many years. Mary’s daughter Wanda Porch and I keep in touch on Facebook.

Sue Sue learned how to clean, cook, iron and sew from her mother.

Many years ago, a street fair came to Arnaudville and set up on the lot in front of Myran’s restaurant. It is where the new Ace Hardware is being built. Many came out for the fair rides and it was on such an occasion that Sue Sue met Hilton Richard, her husband-to-be and father of her children. Like her mother, Sue Sue had five children. Three boys and two girls: Hilton Jr. served 10 years in the Army and now lives in Virginia. He works in trucking. Cora works in Breaux Bridge for St. Martin Parish Council on Aging where she has worked for 32 years. Vera has earned a college degree and teaches first grade. Michael is in Arnaudville. I know Michael. He has worked in the yard with Rod and me. I enjoyed visiting with Michael on those occasions. He was very shy at first but now, when I see him in town, he always waves. Sue Sue’s youngest son is Randy. Randy is also an Army veteran. He served in Iraq but now he and his family live in Arnaudville and Randy works in Mississippi. Sue Sue has six grandchildren and one great grandchild.

Education is very important to Sue Sue. As a high school graduate, she tried hard to instill the benefits of education in her children and she is proud of Vera who earned her degree and teaches. She is proud of her veteran sons and of all of her children. She, of course, prays for her children, grandchildren, all of her family and friends.

Life seldom turns out the way we plan. Sue Sue realized after five children that she was the only one responsible for raising and providing for them. Flo Darby owned what is now commonly referred to as the Joe Darby Camp on the east side of Bayou Teche. Flo invited Sue Sue to move there with her children. Sue Sue does not forget and here, many years later, she is ever grateful to Flo Darby for ushering in a feeling of safety for her and her children and the independence that has come to dominate her life.

Working many jobs, mornings and afternoons, Sue Sue made ends meet. I remember when I returned to Arnaudville, I met Sue Sue at Saint Catherine’s Church; so, I asked her about her strong faith and devotion to her church parish. She explained that she had pulled away but when Deacon Bob and his wife came to St. Catherine’s of Alexandria, she came back to the church with renewed faith. She even made a Cursillo.*

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday and Sue Sue tells me that she was able to receive her ashes because Mrs. Sis LaPorte came. Religion remains very important in Sue Sue’s life. She reads many religious articles and she watches her Mass on TV every day.

It has been a very pleasant visit. I think of this lady and how I came to feel close to her. I recall once when I attended an evening function in the St. Catherine Hall. I offered to help Sue Sue and the ladies in the kitchen and I was welcomed into their group as we served everyone in attendance. The gals even pinned a corsage on my lapel at the end of the evening. I was moved by their warm, friendly welcome.

We end our visit with a photo session and share more laughter. It has been a warm and loving visit.

Sue Sue was born on September 29, 1943 and passed away on April 20, 2016. Rest in peace, dear friend.


* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cursillo - A Cursillo is a three-day weekend program where lay people focus of how to become effective Christian leaders. There are fifteen talks, some given by priests and some by lay people. The major emphasis of the weekend is to ask participants to take what they have learned back into the world, on what is known as the "fourth day." The method stresses personal spiritual development, as accelerated by weekly group reunions (after the weekend).