June 12th

Today is my birthday and my birthday has always been very special. Not special because it was the day I was born on, but special because of other things that have happened on June 12th. Below are a few "Special June 12ths"

• 1922 Hubs Pruett of the St Louis Browns struck out Babe Ruth three (3) consecutive times.
• 1935 Louisiana Senator Huey P Long made the longest speech on Senate Record - 15 1/2 hours with 150,000 words.
• 1942 Anne Frank received a diary for her 13th birthday. Millions of school children read her diary - The Diary of Anne Frank yearly.
• 1944 Nick Picinich married Clytie Frazier in the rural southern town of Dry Prong, Louisiana.
• 1960 Cynthia Omanda Picinich was born and went home to live with wonderful parents.
• 1997 The United States Department of the Treasure introduced a new counterfeit resistant $50.00 bill.
• 2006 David Emory Laird got fitted for angel wings.

Today at 6:10pm, in his own bed in his own home with his wife and children surrounding him, David Laird lost his battle with cancer. His body may be gone, but the memories and love he left behind will never die.

I like to think that there were several people waiting in line to welcome Mr. Laird to Heaven. I know my daddy was one of the ones in line. He was the one probably talking to everybody around him and not hearing a word they were saying to him. Mr. Laird will know how to communicate with him. Pa (Mr. Laird) will tell Daddy a joke and Daddy will laugh even though he hasn't heard a thing he said.

Here's a joke for Pa: Boudreaux's buddy came over one night and saw that Boudreaux was working on a jig saw puzzle. Over the next few years when the friend came over to visit he would see that Boudreaux was still working on that same puzzle. After the fourth year, Boudreaux was all excited and wanted to show his friend the finished puzzle. Boudreaux told his friend, "I think the box was mis-labeled, it says Jig Saw Puzzle for four to eight years. It only took me four years to put it together."

The Other Daughter

When I was twelve years old we had new neighbors move into the house at the end of the street. The Laird's were an Air Force family and Mr. Laird had been transferred to England Air Force Base in Alexandria, Louisiana. At the tender age of twelve, I had no way of knowing this family would become more than neighbors, they would become part of my family.

Of course the normal neighbor kid stuff occurred: I met the oldest daughter and thought she was the coolest "grown" person I had ever known; I crushed on the older brother; I broke the youngest daughter's arm - by accident! We were playing "Blast Off" and she was incredibly light and aero-dynamic - she sailed through the air; and the middle daughter and I bonded and to this day, thirty-five years later we are still best friends. We will be friends for ever and ever because we know way too much about each other to ever try and sever the bond :) It's kind of like Lucy and Ethel meet Thelma and Louise. We always said we would probably be old spinster women living on opposite ends of the same street. It's true, I live on the corner of Moser Drive and Debby lives at the end of Moser Drive, and living in between us is one of the sweetest men God ever had the joy to create. David Laird, Pop, to his children and grandchildren, has been one of the constants in our neighborhood for the past thirty-five years. "Brother Dave" never met a stranger and never met a person who wouldn't benefit from his endless repertoire of "Boudreaux Cajun" jokes.

Whenever a holdiay would roll around I would usually gravitate toward the end of the street and spend part of the day with the Lairds. This happened so often that Pa started calling me "the other daughter." I never knew how much I needed to be "the other daughter" until my own father took ill. While Daddy was in and out of the hosptial over the course of two years, I found myself turning to Pa. The Laird house had never been a Coca-Cola house until one day Pa noticed I drank Cokes. After that day, whenever he went to the store to pick up grocery items for his family, he always made sure to buy Coca-Cola Classics for "the other daughter."

As time wore on, it became obvious to all who knew me that I was having to prepare for a life without a father. When Daddy died on September 16, 2003, I transferred a lot my feelings to Mr. Laird . At family gatherings he always made sure "all" his girls were present and accounted for. When I was grieving over Daddy and at a loss of what to do and where to go, I knew I was welcome at the end of the street. Pa lead by example. He extended his hand and love to someone who needed a father firgure and his family graciously accepted me.

It's hard to lose your father. My heart cries for Debby, Teena, Linda, Richard, and Scott. My heart breaks for Mrs. Laird who is loosing her friend, husband, and mate of sixty-one years. I grieve all who knew David Emory Laird and I grieve for those who will never get a chance to meet this wonderful man.

Listen to this joke: Boudreaux goes to the doctor complaining of a terrible pain in his arm. He tells the doctor " Doc, oh it hurt when I lift my arm above my head" "What should I do?" The doctor looks at him and says "Don't do it!" :) I Love You Pa from The Other Daughter