Originally Posted by southern151
My arrival in Louisiana.
I left Oklahoma March 14, 2004 headed this way for a 4 week job in which, I told my mom, I’d be back in 3 days. Never did I know I’d stay. Never did I envision that I’d meet such a fine group of people.
Where I come from, we do for others because…Well, just damn because!, your dad will knock the piss out you if you don’t! When I came to LA, I knew I had found a group of the same! People here do things on their own time but, things ALWAYS get done and your friends, family and neighbors come first!
Condensing this long road, I’ll cut to the chase!
I met a great group of people here in Gonzales that made me feel right at home! Jan David Pavey, Jerry Babin, Johnny Fredrick, Darren Bergeron and their significant others, just to name a few. Sadly, some of these folks are now deceased. God rest his soul, Jerry Babin told me, it’s not where you’re from or what you’ve done, it’s where you’re at and what you plan to do that matters! Those words changed my life and still ring in my ears daily. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think of him and what he taught me. Hell, the night he died, I even watched LSU baseball with him! LOL
On to more great people I’ve met here! Forgive me if I ramble.
I got into LA outdoors and fell in love!!! How could you not?! Then, when things started to unwind elsewhere, I found SaltyCajun.com. Since my inaugural days, I’ve had the priviledge of working, fishing, and dealing with a good number of you! (I’ll use their usernames)… I don’t know where to begin!… Eman, comes to mind first because he took me and showed me around Hopedale. When my dad had his heart attack, he came to the shop and helped me in ways that he likely doesn’t know. He saved my sanity in one of my biggest moments of crisis. The SC crew stepped it up and offered tremendous help during that time as well. I still thank you ALL for the prayers!
WTRetrievers, you sent me work on my word and I hope we’ve never disappointed you!
Outcast and Fishinpox, you’ve always been quick to give me pointers on locations for fishing and I can’t thank you enough!
SimplePeddler, when I needed your help in my move with the shop, you were right there!!!! Holy cripes, you don’t even know! You are the man and I’ll always be there for you when you need something! You also said something that I’ll never forget. “You do for everyone else so, today is your day.” It’s still one of the most humbling statements I’ve ever heard. You’ll never have a deductible! LOL
PaulMeyers, you took me fishing in LC when no one else wanted to respond! You put a stranger in your truck and treated me like we’d known each other for years! Hell, you drove all the way across the state to get new tires and door pins! I know it didn’t save ya that much dang money! LOL I’ll never forget that though!
I know that I’m leaving some people out here and I do apologize! As you come to my mind, I’ll be sure to put you up here! I thank everyone for making this my home and I can only hope that the rest of the world has had the great fortune of knowing great people, like I have!
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