OH LAWD chapter 49

Married Life
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We left San Francisco early in the morning and were home in New Orleans by noon.

We managed to get the added baggage into the house, (due to the shopping trips Marly and Mille enjoyed while we were in San Francisco).

Before unpacking we went to the restaurant and had lunch for we were famished.

Coming back from a honeymoon is a little strange for people are staring at you as if you have been sick, or in jail and they are not sure you are normal.

There are only a few opening lines that people can think of at a time like this one being, “How do you like married life?”  

How do I like married life?  I would say it is a little early to answer that question.

Come back in fifty years and I will have a better handle on the answer to that question is what went through my mind.

Marriage begins
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Our honeymoon was ninety percent about passion, so that would not be a fair measuring stick on marriage on the whole.

Once I asked Ma about her and Pa's relationship. He was so laid back and although he was respectful to Ma he never showed or displayed a passionate desire for her.

She said, “Son, things are not always what they seem to be.  He is a man that controls himself, but within that restraint lays a passion that when it is released totally engulfs me.  

He doesn't put on a show like so many but what we have doesn't have to be demonstrated before people to have substance.

Your mother is a contented and satisfied woman and that is because of your father.”

As I thought of those words I decided I would follow in the steps of Pa and hope that Mille could say the same thing as my Ma, that she is a contented and satisfied woman because of me.

There was in another part of town, what you might call a Bistro that advertised they were a French restaurant, but their food was sorely lacking in taste and quality.

It wasn't long until they went out of business and the building was up for sale.

After some time it still had not sold so Mille and I looked it over and decided to buy it.

We certainly didn't need it but the idea that another so called French Restaurant might open up was reason enough.

We rented it out for storage and beyond that it just gathered dust. The restaurant in Gulfport was doing well enough to keep Pa going.

Noonan, Abdul, Paddy and a couple of waitresses plus Pa and occasionally Ma were the staff that ran it.

There came up a terrific storm that hit Gulfport and did a lot of damage. The pier and the restaurant were all but destroyed.

 

I decided to come and view the destruction and we all agreed that the cost of repairing the restaurant and pier would prove too much and not be worth it.

Pa said, “I think I will just quit the business and return to Tupelo, Mississippi, where we came from.”

I had something in mind and decided to run it by Pa and Ma and see if they were interested.

The thing that was running through my mind was for the whole crew to come to New Orleans and open a Genuine Cajun Bistro in the building Mille and I had bought.  

Pa said, “We had planned to return to Tupelo but I need to make a living somehow. I'll talk it over with the crew and let you know.”

I said I have to get back to the restaurant but call me as soon as you decide one way or another.

As they talked about it they couldn't come to a decision so Pa suggested they all come down and look the place over.

That sounded like a good idea so they headed to New Orleans.

I met them at the building and let them in. everyone had their own interest and headed for what they wanted to see. Noonan and Abdul went to the kitchen; Paddy and the waitresses went upstairs to look at the living quarters.

Pa looked at how the place could be laid out. It had a bar with stools where people could eat and room enough to put in a number of tables.

Ma went to visit with Mille for she said she would leave all the figuring to the others.

It didn’t take long and they all agreed that was the answer to their needs and besides that New Orleans needed a good Cajun restaurant.

Oh Lawd!

To be Continued