Christiansen's Comments
.JPG)
First Published Hinds County Gazette
May 23 2013
May 23 2013
Saturday I attended two parties, a crawfish boil out at Montgomery
Lake to celebrate Julian Gibbens
birthday. Julian turned 100 on Friday
May, 17. One hundred!!!!
And he still
has his mind! Still writes letters…still enjoys telling stories…remarkable!
(When I consider living to 100…All I can
think about is…that equates to having to put up, decorate and take down the Christmas tree 31
more times!)
Julian came from a large family of
Louisiana Cajuns…I guess they are Cajuns…, people in Mississippi refer to folks
from Louisiana as ether Cajuns or Coon ___ (I am not allowed to say the word or
write the word. I can still taste the
soap mother use to wash my mouth when I said a word she considered
offensive…There were lots of them back in my day….The only person who was
allowed say “hell” was the preacher.) So anyway his Louisiana
relatives came up and cooked crawfish to celebrate Julian’s birthday.
My word! I have never seen so many crawfish! A wading pool full!
The children were fascinated with them…Actually touching the wiggling creatures. Crawfish are not ugly exactly…but I have to wonder who was the first somebody who had the nerve to eat one?
 | |
| Whit stirring Crawfish, Julian is Whit's "Paw" |
The children were fascinated with them…Actually touching the wiggling creatures. Crawfish are not ugly exactly…but I have to wonder who was the first somebody who had the nerve to eat one?
I don’t think that coon___ nickname is necessarily derogatory ….I am
thinking it is like us rural folks in Mississippi
being called “rednecks”. The good ole Mississippi
country boys don’t seemed to be insulted by being called “red neck”.
 | |||
| 100 Balloons! Photo P.A. Mckey |
Later Saturday afternoon, I went from a party celebrating a
long life, to celebrating a little girl who is not yet born. I attended a baby
shower for Mary Frances Hilbun, Mary Frances was not in attendance…I guess she
was, but Mary Frances will not be born until July.
Mary Frances is the daughter of
Marrianna and Jamie Hilbun, the granddaughter of my friends Dave and Suzanne
Harpole.
.
.JPG)
The shower was given by some of
Marrianna’s young lady friends ….Us old ladies have wondered “who is going to
do the parties when we get to old to do them”…… let me tell you we can stop
fretting…. this younger generation knows how to do a party…the food, flowers
and table were absolutely beautiful.
And I learned something from
them….you do not have to make everything from scratch ….stand over a hot stove
for hours…The cupcakes were exquisite…and tasted sooooooooooo yummy! They were bought, not from a fancy dancy
bakery…but from a local grocery store!
Miss Mary Frances received many
beautiful gifts….or so I was told…us older attendees, stayed seated at a table
in the breakfast room, as the gifts were being opened, ….we were just plum dumb
giddy … we were at a party!! We were enjoying being waited on!!! We never shut
up…talking loud and laughing….If we were not so darn loveable we probably would
never get invited to another party.
We old ladies were unsure who we could
pass the party, Bible School, etc baton to….Actually I am not sure we were
looking….we were hanging on to it with a white knuckle grip…They had to come
peel it out of our hands.
The young ladies have proven they can do
it. They learned from the best!
Call if you need me
P.S. I received a note from Julian yesterday May, 29, 2013
informing me there were no Cajuns at his party.
informing me there were no Cajuns at his party.
