Elroy
Gremillion Meets the Governor
I met four
Louisiana Governors because of Daddy. He
was in the Louisiana Legislature as a Representative and then State Senator
from 1952 to 1976, so I met Robert Kennon, Jimmy Davis of the “You Are My
Sunshine” fame, John McKeithen and Edwin Edwards. Growing up, I always felt like I was in a
“goldfish bowl” (my mother’s words, not mine.)
We were to be seen and not heard most of the time.
However, because
of Daddy, I was able to attend inaugurations and parties held by governors
around hotel swimming pools. I even sat
in one governor’s desk and read comic books whenever they were in session (yea,
I was nine). I had even been to the
governor’s mansion on more than one occasion. It seemed a magical life, for a
boy who was free to roam the state capital grounds with the Lt. Governor’s son,
climb on Huey Long’s statue, and pretend to give tours from the top of the
capital to visitors. In my teenage years
I was even a senate page. I thought it
cool that governors knew my name (even if it only was, “That’s Senator Blair’s
son.)
So, when Daddy officially retired, I felt
that my years of meeting governors was over.
Yet, years later, I met another
governor. The first female governor of
Louisiana, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, governor from 2004-2008, was one that I
admired a lot. I met her after that
horrific Katrina disaster that ruined many lives and certainly complicated
hers.
So now I’m sure your question is, “Who is this
Elroy Gremillion up in the title? I
thought this was about your experiences. How did this Elroy know the Governor of
Louisiana? What is this all about?” Well,
I’ll tell you.
Those who
know me, know of my whimsical art pieces of people. I loved cutting them out of wood and giving
them a name and a story, (you know, sorta like, “Who’s your mama and dem?”) One
such piece was Elroy Gremillion. Yes,
Elroy is a figment of my imagination, but Elroy is different from the rest
because he was the first one which was created with an entire painted background,
complete with a decorated frame, (half of an old screen door). All the previous pieces were single people.
ELROY GREMILLION
This is his story:
Psalm 28:6-7 Praise be to the Lord, for he has heard my
cry for mercy. The Lord is my strength
and my shield; My heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks
to him in song.
Elroy Gremillion was a bitter Vietnam veteran
who turned to drugs and alcohol. He
lived in a cardboard box in the back room of a bait stand on Main street in
Pineville, Louisiana, when the weather was good, and in shelters the rest of
the time. I met him at the Main Street
Mission, two doors from the bait stand, when he came for a meal one day. (Several
from our church served meals twice a month at the mission). We began to talk over the next few
weeks. It was here that he shared his story.
Elroy had
a lot of hatred about the way he was treated upon returning to the states, and
a lot of nightmares of the horrors he experienced fighting in Vietnam. It was bad enough, he said, that he had to
live in dirt and mud while constantly fearing for his life fighting in a war
that no one wanted. Upon returning home he
was spat upon and cursed at the airport.
This seemed to be the last straw. At first, he returned to New Iberia, his
hometown, but was treated with the same disdain. His life spiraled downward after that. Elroy’s
only relative, his sister, kicked him out.
They drifted apart after that. Unable to find a job because of his anger
toward people, Elroy ended up on the streets, another of the number of the
invisible homeless veterans. Elroy
continued displaying his anger toward others until this one night when he was
restless and unable to sleep. He heard
some music. He gazed out the window
searching for the haunting melody, a beautiful rhapsody, he thought, that
rippled among the pines. Unable to find
it, he relaxed and slept soundly that night.
When the sun rose, he greeted the day with thanksgiving. All day that melody penetrated his
thoughts. The owner of the bait stand
told him the music came from two doors down, at the mission. Elroy said he seemed to know the music, but
it was as if hearing it for the first time.
Main Street Mission became his salvation. People were different there. One day he asked the man in charge, “Will you
teach me the music?”
“In time,”
he replied. “Give it time.”
As he became stronger, less angry, Elroy discovered
how to love again and eventually began to help others who had lost their hearts
so they, too, could learn the love of God.
Elroy’s story is not that complicated, and,
like all of us, he is still discovering himself and his purpose in this
world.
ART SHOW IN NEW ORLEANS
In July of
2005, I had a one man show on Magazine Street in New Orleans.
Elroy was one of
the pieces that I had exhibited. It was
a festive, summer evening, with people strolling down the street, stopping at
galleries open for the art walk. I had
invited lots of friends and enjoyed a wonderful reception, even sold a few
pieces. It was a lovely time with good food and friends. The show would hang until the end of August.
On August 23, disaster hit. Hurricane Katrina came to town.
It was the third major hurricane of the 2005
season and the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record. Eighty per cent of New Orleans was flooded due
to breeches in the levee system. There
was looting and crimes. People were stranded in the Superdome. Life in New Orleans seemed to have ended.
I was unable to retrieve my art pieces from
Magazine Street. I didn’t know if the
gallery was flooded or if any art was safe.
I tried to contact the owners but
received no response. They had left the
city. After a great deal of searching I
turned to a friend that was a state trooper, temporarily assigned to New
Orleans to help crowd control. He
eventually found time to go by Magazine Street and informed me that the building was locked and not damaged
by water. Everything was dry. Nothing was looted. The trooper arranged to return my art
whenever he came home.
Like the Katrina Rose, Elroy had survived the
devastation of Katrina.
Who knew, that after enduring Katrina, there
would be more to Elroy’s story? Who knew
that the Governor would one day meet Elroy Gremillion? That they would become
friends and hang out in the Governor’s Mansion together? Certainly not me. Perhaps they met when Governor Blanco oversaw
the massive evacuation of 93% of the New Orleans area. We will never know. Maybe he told her they had something in
common, both being Cajuns from New Iberia although I doubt their paths ever
crossed during Katrina.
Kathleen
Blanco was the 54th and first female Governor of Louisiana when
Katrina struck. I have always had a lot
of respect for her. (Understand
this. We are not going to talk politics
here about what troubles Katrina caused her or her career). The Council for a Better Louisiana gave Blanco
it’s Robert B. Hamm Award for Distinguished Service in recognition for her work
in improving education in the state and for guiding the first pay raise in
years for public school teachers. She
said, “Education was the best way to lead people out of poverty.”
In March
of 2007, I was accepted to participate in the Governor’s Sixth Annual State
Home Showcase of Art. I was one of seven
artists from the state asked to participate.
A committee, including Governor Blanco selected the art to hang for one
year in the Mansion. My piece, Elroy
Gremillion, was selected. In April, my
wife, Frances and I enjoyed the unveiling of the art reception in the Governor’s
Mansion where all of us artists had our picture taken with the governor. We were given a tour of the mansion. It
brought back memories of being there in the past. Beautiful art pieces, from the other artists,
hung throughout the building. Searching
for mine, I was surprised to discover that Elroy hung directly in front of
Governor Blanco’s desk where she could see it daily. Later, she told me she wanted it opposite her
desk because it made her smile. He
reminded her of her Cajun roots. I can
only imagine what stories Elroy heard and what laughter and tears he witnessed. I often wonder if she talked to him, late at
night, of her frustrations.
Old Elroy
Gremillion has had quite a life. He
survived Vietnam and then Hurricane Katrina before meeting the Governor of
Louisiana and hanging out with her for a year.
Elroy must be kin to Forrest Gump!
Ha!
Note:
It makes me sad, that as I write
this memory, Kathleen Blanco is under hospice care because of cancer. I wish her family well during this time. May she transition without pain. She gave me a wonderful memory that I will
forever cherish.
Nippy. April 26, 2019
© Nippy Blair 2015.
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