Family Friday: The Ducks or so Kathy Gaines once called them in a sweet little article she wrote about my Mom and her sisters. Here the are, the Clark sisters in all their hairdo glory. L-R Edna (Fuller), Aline (my Mom), Ruth (Gussow), Ursula (Giraud), & Verna (Pates). They stayed close their entire lives and got together on a weekly basis to play Yahtzee, dominoes, or whatever game fit their fancy. Aunt Verna was the only one to marry a local boy, Frank Pates from a local fishing family on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Im not sure what brought my Uncle Richard Giraud down from St. Louis but he was Mgr, then Owner of Biloxi Brake and Alignment for as long as I can remember him. The other 3 sisters, Mom included, all married soldiers as my Grandfather called them, stationed locally at Keesler AFB. They were all Biloxi girls from two sides of old Biloxi families, one French (Lestrade), one Irish (Clark). They grew up in a tiny little neighborhood, Lestrade Place, Ive mentioned several times before, located just north of the Biloxi Lighthouse. It has survived all the hurricanes that have devastated that part of the coast and all but one of the 10 houses still belong to family. They taught us what family could be about and, as a result, I know my first cousins pretty well and keep in touch with most. The Clark sisters, along with their older brother, Dee, are all gone as of this past year. Theyre gone, but not the spirit of the Ducks. The other photo is of my Uncle Dee Clark, seen here, the way I remember him, as Mgr of the Biloxi Skating Rink where I spent quit a few Saturday mornings when my family lived in Biloxi. The oldest child and only son, Uncle Dee was a veteran of the Pacific war in WWII. When I found that out I asked what he did in the service. Mortar, was his quick, deadpan answer that didnt invite further questions. He wasalso one of the best coast fisherman I ever knew. He was especially good at flounderin and soft shellin, two fishing activities done simultaneously. With the tide out in the Mississippi sound wed all go out at night armed with Coleman Lanterns, single spike flounder gigs, and long handled scoop nets. As the flounder lay in the shallow water wed do our best to spot them and gig them. Uncle Dee had eyes like an eagle and could spot a flounder way out on the edge of the light before any of the rest of us could. Also, to be seen were the blue claw crabs. Touch one gently with with the tip of the gig and, if it didnt feel like touching a rock, it was a soft shell that had recently shed its protective armor and letting the new one harden as the crabs grew. As you may imagine, we ate a lot of fresh caught seafood in our family. We still do.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 16:37:40 +0000
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