I'm Riding For

Elizabeth LeBlanc (1929-2004)

No matter what you knew her as (Mama, Mamaw, Aunt Liz, Miss Liz, the list goes on...), my grandmother was the definition of the family matriarch. Her little house on Hwy 696 in Abbeville, across the road from the rice fields/crawfish ponds, was the most welcoming place that I can remember from my childhood. Whenever we were there, everyone would stop by to visit, play bourré, or sit down for a plate of something good to eat. It was like Olive Garden...if you were there, you were family. I don't remember my grandmother ever being loud. I also do not remember her ever lacking an opinion about anything, her quietness belying her strength and wisdom. And she was strong. Widowed at 43, she was always there for her children, her grandchildren, and anyone else that needed a hand to hold or a spare bed to sleep in. Her health was never great, she suffered from lupus and other maladies, but she never gave in and she never gave up. Nearing her early 70s, my grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer. After undergoing surgery and chemotherapy for that, it appeared that she was cancer-free! However not long after, she succumbed to complications from all of her other health problems. Her strength and resilience throughout what many would consider a difficult life still serves as an example and an inspiration to all of those who carry on her memory.