In 1950 George Rodrigue drew and colored a turkey for his parents. On the back he wrote in a surprisingly elegant child’s script: For Mother and Dad on Thanksgiving: 1. Visits to chapel. 9 2. Prayers in school. 40 3. Decades of rosary. 27 George Rodrigue 2nd Grade To fit the tiny picture in aContinue reading “The Family Table”
Monthly Archives:
Blue Wendy
This weekend George Rodrigue and I attended an event where the religious leader prayed for and encouraged our suffering. We left watching carefully, unprepared at a gala for this powerful lesson, for the bus that might run us down in the street, safeguarding our empathy with broken bones or worse. “Suffering and diminishment are notContinue reading “Blue Wendy”
Victory on Bayou St. John
“The brave young men rode onto the beaches and into battle on Higgins Boats, built in New Orleans by Andrew Higgins, the man Eisenhower said, ‘won the war for us.’” —Stephen Ambrose Yet these two American giants of World War II never met. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) eventually became President of the United States (1953-1961); however,Continue reading “Victory on Bayou St. John”
Hiding From the Blues
Recently I challenged George Rodrigue: Pretend I’m a stranger and answer some questions. “Do you ever get the Blues?” “No, I really don’t, at least not on my own,” he said. “But I do catch the Blues from others.” “Like your wife?” I asked. But I already knew the answer. (pictured, The Red Cover-Up, 2010, acrylicContinue reading “Hiding From the Blues”
LSU Football: A Personal History
I attended a small college, Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. In the mid-1980s we had maybe two thousand students. Although we had a football team, I don’t recall any games. We had a Greek system, but I evaded that as well, opting instead for extra classes and the AIDS suicide hotline. In short, IContinue reading “LSU Football: A Personal History”