“Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer."
-Maya Angelou
Just south of where the hills of North Louisiana first turn into flat prairie lands is the town of Ville Platte, French for “Flat Town” -- my birthplace/hometown and the seat of the parish called Evangeline, carved out at the beginning of the 20th century from the massive parish of St. Landry. The town is also home to Chicot State Park and the Louisiana State Arboretum, glorious natural spaces well worth a trip from anywhere in the state.
Since the culture there is so unique, it’s really hard for someone who didn’t grow up in a very small, very Cajun town in the pre-Internet days to understand. Are you lucky enough to have friends that you have known since Kindergarten that you never, ever lost touch with and that you still LOVE spending time with? I am!
When two of these “Gumbo Gals” asked me if I was interested in having Leaf and Lore participate in a pop-up in our hometown with them in their new boutique venture, I did not hesitate to say yes. On Saturday, October 22, there we were – in the courtyard of the building of La Bonne Vie Aesthetics on Main Street in Ville Platte. This is the same Main Street where farther west, my dad’s business, Carpet World, has been for many years. Farther east lies Sacred Heart School and Church where we all went to school and church together for 13 years.
Years of living away and working in a job at a community college with people from all over has made my Cajun accent not as noticeable as it once was but I’m still a Cajun girl through and through. Ville Platte is a part of who I am and it is full of wonderful people, many of whom came out to see us Saturday. Thank you to Niki and Samie, the Gumbo Gals, for deciding to do this in Ville Platte on a beautiful Saturday. We're also very grateful to Brittany Miller, the owner of La Bonne Vie Family Healthcare and Aesthetics who allowed us to use her space.
Until next time...
Merci, Ville Platte! Je t'aime!