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 In 1955, Dad died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage, and for the rest of Mother’s
life, she couldn’t decide whether to blame his death on his wild ways
or his love for spicy food. I don’t know much about Father’s
wild ways, but I assure you Mom was the best cook in the south. She learned
in her mother’s restaurant in James Alley next to Parrish Prison in New
Orleans, and my whole life, I watched her work Cajun miracles with the food
she had available to her.
Dad’s death was hard on our family. As
the eldest, I knew my father better than my brothers and sisters, and I loved
him, but a great many things have happened since in my life, and it’s
difficult now to recall how much pain I felt at his passing. I was acutely
aware, however, that Mom now shouldered alone the responsibility of working
and raising six children, and I recognized how difficult rural life and the
lack of services had become for her. Therefore, I was not surprised when
two years after we buried Dad, Mom moved the family into the city and took
an apartment in the Calliope Projects.
- Sidney experienced his first traumatic event in early adolescence with
his father’s
sudden death. Although he does not recall the pain felt at his father’s
passing, the unexpected loss of a loving and supporting parent is extremely
traumatic and possibly causative for a host of acute and/or chronic mental
disorders.
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