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Dear Brian,
Thank you for writing. I enjoyed looking at your pictures. Yours looks like a happy family. I was impressed by the large sunflower Morgan was holding when the picture was taken. When I first retired, I had a veg. garden in the back yard and had a nice crop of sunflowers that the squirrels really liked.
I am a French-speaking native of Ville Platte, Evangeline Parish, LA. French is my primary language. While in VP last summer, I went to a book store in search of two volumes of cemetery records I wanted to buy - Sacred Heart and Le Vieux Cemetiere in Ville Platte - these books were not available, but I did find three that I really enjoy.
"Tonnere mes chiens!" by Amanda LaFleur
My husband, Ed, says he never heard my father say a bad word, but I can tell you, I heard my father say "Tonnere mes chiens?" on more than one occasion. Bet you have heard that one too!
I still break up with laughter when I read the following response to "comment sa va?"
"meiux que ca et les pretres seraient jaloux" (any better than this, and the priests would be jealous)
Things are going very well.
Since many Catholics still view the parish priest as one whose life is free of the real world concerns of laymen, anyone whose siuation could "make a priest jealous" is in a very enviable position. French Louisians' fervent Catholicism has rarely hindered them from poking fun at the clergy, and francophones elsewhere in the world are equally disposed. LaFleur, p. 3
My granddaughter, Renee' Wells, just received her masters in English. This year she is teaching in Atlanta, but next year, she plans to work on a doctorate in English. Rene suggested I buy the French dictionary she used in her study of French. I did and I bought the companion grammer. I found the dictionary difficult to use.
Sometime later, my grandson, Edw Griffith, asked for my help with French. Since I read French phonetically, I was happy to translate. Long story short... I gave Edw the books. Because these were the books his teacher used, that pleased him no end. Edw is taking a third year of French and is able to help his brother, Sloan, who is in his first year.
While in the book store in VP, I found "A Dictionary of the Cajun Language" by Rev. Msgr. Jules O. Daigle. I have no trouble with this one. I also bought the book, "Cajun Self-Taught" and the tapes with the same title. Strangely enough, I have not needed the latter. I do just fine with the Dictionary.
My grandson, Edw, has offered to teach me "how to" use the keyboard to enter accents, etc. When I get ready to publish my very large database, I will use his help. I do not have a lot of biographical and historical information, so I plan to publish what I call my Research Journal. Editing is a slow process, so I figure it will be some time before I am ready to publish.
Another book that caught my eye "Cajun Healing - Les Traiteur et Les Traiteuse" by Berk Veillon and contributors. Berk is a university educated counselor, with a Ph.D. and an MSW.
My paternal grandfather, Pierre Morein, was a traiteur. Berk Veillon writes that the gift is passed from a male to a female relative and vice versa. I asked Aunt Eula, Pierre Morein's last surviving child, if Pa Pere passed the gift, and she said she didn't know. But, I must tell you, Aunt Eula and her sister, Ida, were nurses and countless grandchildren are in health related professions including me and my children. Makes you wonder. Maybe it's in the genes. I asked Aunt Eula what Pierre treated and she said "colic".
I have been told Pierre Morein could do anything he set his mind to do. He made coffins, and when minister or priest was not available, he conducted the funeral service. He had both a French bible and an English bible and could conduct the service in either language.
Ed and I had hoped to travel when we retired, but that did not happen. Ed has an old spinal-cord injury, and for many years walked on crutches. Soon after he retired, he fell and stopped walking, and now can no longer stand. He is confined to a wheelchair with limited range of motion in all the extremities. I took early retirement from the University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB Health Affairs) so I could be at home with him. Genealogy has taken the place of going to work and I never get bored.
We were forbidden to speak French at school, but my family continued to speak French at home. I am glad we did.
Both mama's parents died when she was 9-years old. For this reason, she knew very little of her family. While mama was still of sound mind, I researched her LeDoux family. This pleased her no end. Daddy on the other hand, kept his genealogy in his head. As I do my genealogy research, I can hear his voice saying "we are related to Chapmans, Thompsons, Manuels, etc.".
Cousine Rosie
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