The VFW was an organization that Walter and I really enjoyed. Between 1987 – 1994, Helen Stoute, who is also a resident at J. Michael Morrow Nursing Home, and I were active members of the VFW Auxiliary. (See above photograph) We brought our sewing machines to the nursing home and mended clothes for residents who needed our help. It was great volunteer work. My mother was a resident here at the nursing home back then and she is in the photograph on the far right. I am next to her, along with other volunteers.

Now, we crochet red scarves for people who have suffered heart attacks.

Mathilde tells me: Mama did a lot of sewing for the family. Each garment had to fit just right. So, she’d have me try my new dress over and over again. That was too much for me and I would get restless as she struggled to get my dress to fit just right.

A sewing machine was a luxury back when I was a child. I don’t know when Mama got one, but it was a Singer and the old treadle type. That means that it was powered by her feet which were positioned on the bottom paddle-like part, the “treadle,” and she pressed up and down as the machine made each perfect stitch. I guess it was around the 1930’s when kits became available to convert the treadle machine to electric power. Mama bought that motor and had her Singer converted to electric. That was a big help for her.

As I got older, I seemed to know how to sew just by having watched Mama for many years. I don’t remember ever being taught, I just knew how and I, too, took pleasure in sewing for my family. I learned a lot from Mama.

Mama was my adoptive mother as my mother died soon after I was born. My birth father was related to a couple who really wanted children and had never been able to have them. I had a two-year-old sister and she was also adopted by a family. They lived in Texas. After I married, we visited her at her home. She had six children. I had three. I was adopted by Mama and Daddy and was raised as an only child and had a great life. When I was just about 8 years old, Daddy would let me sit on his lap and I would steer the car. I seem to know how to drive all through my life.

I was a young woman from Prairie Basse and I worked at a cafeteria in Sunset. A girl who also worked there had cousins who were soldiers and that really interested me. She was in touch with Leroy, my husband’s brother. I asked her to ask Leroy for Walter’s address. When Walter came home on leave, he came to see me. That was the beginning of my happy and wonderful married life that lasted almost 71 years.

On June 6, 1943 Walter and I married and we traveled by train from Alexandria for our honeymoon. He was stationed in Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania and it took almost 2 days for us to arrive. There was no air conditioning back then; but it was fun being a Cajun Country girl and to travel so far. We rented a room and I think it was about $7 a month for the rent. We stayed around three months and then came World War II. I can still hear the sound of the train whistle, as the other wives and I said “Goodbye” to our husbands, not knowing when they would return. Some of the wives were Lorena Stelly and Velma Patin from around Carencro. One was from Lawtell, a Burleigh. We had to come home. We traveled back together to Louisiana without our husbands. That was the hardest part. I came back to live with Mama and Daddy during that time. When the war ended and Walter came home, my oldest, Florine, was 15 months old when he first saw her.

Florine and all of my children were born at the hospital in Church Point. It was the hospital that accepted the military insurance.

After the war, it seemed to take two or three jobs to make ends meet. Walter and two of his brothers, Clement and Leroy, were carpenters. But, Walter also farmed and grew a vegetable garden. Almost every family did. We also raised quail. I remember picking the eggs, boiling and peeling them for pickling. Walter would mail the pickled quail eggs to buyers and all of that helped support our family.

Florine was born on March 24, 1944. She is a great daughter, wife and mother. She has three sons and a daughter. She is also a talented artist. I believe she got that talent from the Bourque side of the family. Her cousin Larry Bourque is also an artist.

Florine married Clarence J. “C.J.” Robin. As Walter got older, it seemed to be “C.J” we called on to help with cutting grass and other jobs that had to be done. In 2004, our home flooded. “C.J.” and David, our grandson, and Eddie Perez, Florine’s son-in-law helped with rebuilding. There was painting, plumbing, electrical and carpentry to be done. Floors had to be replaced. The painters were Muriel Wyble, Walter’s sister, Florine, Michael Robin and Peggy Robin. Many people helped. I remember Floyd Arnaud, Christopher Robin and Myran Richard lending a hand. Gary Naquin, one of our friends from the VFW, was a tremendous help to Walter as well. We had to move in with our daughter Linda for over a year. I probably can’t remember all but I am grateful to everyone who came to help us during that difficult time of our life.

Floyd, our son was born on April 12, 1946. He was like his father; they loved horses. After Floyd graduated from high school, he, like so many young men from our town, got a job on a dredge. He bought a red Chevy car and was so proud of his new car! He and Shorty Calais had been to Johnnie’s which was a local hang-out for young people back then. When they left Johnnie’s, they were involved in a head-on collision with a husband and wife who had been to the Happy Landing. Floyd was killed and Shorty died later at the hospital. It was a bad year for the young men of Arnaudville. I believe 5 boys died in various accidents that year.

Our family was filled with grief. With faith, I learned to accept it. Walter never got over it. Floyd’s picture is in my room at J. Michael Morrow Nursing Home. Some years ago, Walter bought a recorder and taped himself reciting the rosary. Each day and sometimes more than once, it bring me comfort to hear Walter’s voice. I pray along with Walter and I look at Floyd’s picture. I often wish that Floyd had lived to be older so that he could have many opportunities to ride a horse and enjoy what he loved.

My daughter Linda was born on May 27, 1949. She also had tragedy in her young life. She lost her husband Russell in an automobile accident. Linda is very active and enjoys working and traveling. She has two sons.

Life goes on. When I needed help to care for Walter, I asked if he would like living here at the nursing home. My mother had died here. Walter teasingly answered: “No, because you’d visit all the old people and leave me all by myself in our room.” Well, with our wonderful family, I had lots of visitors to keep him occupied. We now have one granddaughter, five grandsons and fifteen great grandchildren and nine great great grandchildren. Walter died on November 25, 2014, here at J. Michael Morrow Nursing Home.

When holidays or other celebrations come along, the children take me to my house. We spend a day together there and the children take turns cooking. There are lots of memories in those rooms. I know I can no longer live there alone and so I adjust. I have learned to make the most of my life. I enjoy my activities with my friends at the nursing home. I enjoy my family’s visits and I keep in touch with the use of my iPad.