MY ROOTS

 
I was born in Port Arthur, Texas, the eldest of 4 kids. My father was German-French and my mother Russian-French. Historically, Port Arthur is a melting pot of different cultures with the Acadian French and Cajun families being predominant. Only 15 miles away, Beaumont, Texas, has a broader spectrum of nationalities. Having grown up in a politically based family from that area, I know there are two strong political forces there. One is Port Arthur-Louisiana politics, and the other is Beaumont politics. My great-grandfather Provost migrated to Port Arthur almost immediately after the Cholera Epidemic in and around New Orleans.....(This link is a online visitors' guide to the city, featuring movies, jazz and celebrity pictures. Hotels, tours, and reservation service available for tourists) ...when so many died. He moved his entire family to Port Arthur for a new start and was a butcher. He died in his fifties while on a daily delivery and his horse carried him home that day.  Here is the link to the Provost family page.

I am very interested in old Louisiana and Southern family culture and religious interactive phases. On the religious side, I am very interested in Vodoun or Voodoo influence within the Catholic Church, as relates to the cajun and slave communities. This influence is most powerful within the old acadian families and I believe it is the roots from where I grew! To understand the "where it came from" sheds light upon the "who and what" of today.

I was educated, as most of the Provost family, in the Catholic faith as well as in Catholic School. I started 1st grade at St. James Catholic School and graduated from Bishop Byrne High School. So, part of my determination stems from the strong influence of several self-made women: "nuns." These nuns taught me how to learn on my own and they shared with me the true meaning of self-discipline. I founded my womanhood and career on what I was taught.

I was raised in a musically inclined family. My paternal grandma was originally from Jeanerette, Louisiana. She was raised on a Provost plantation and had formal music tutors as a young girl. My father played every stringed instrument you could imagine and actually accompanied Tyrone Powers for a short time. My father personally taught every one of his 4 children music and we had a family band. We would practice in the evenings and our neighbors would bring lawn chairs into our backyard so they would hear us practicing. Over the years we entertained publicly and our family band grew to include other musicians, or wannabe musicians, from all around!

Life in Port Arthur was wonderful! Our family was close and most of my best lessons in life came from my family. We drifted down the Bayous, dark and still, while the moss hung limply from the trees on the banks! We fished, crabbed and shrimped then came home to prepare the evening meal. We cut our teeth on "red pepper" and learned how to eat crawfish as our first "finger food!" We imagined ourselves at sea with the great pirate/ancestor, Jean Lafitte...Jean Lafitte, pirate/vampire/patriot of the War of 1812 (Battle of New Orleans), my geneological history. This may explain part of the rebel in my personality...however, I don't expect it to completely exonerate me!

And when the great weather change occurs on the coast, many Port Arthur refugees ran to safety. Our family weathered those storms several times. During Carla, we had to be evacuated to San Augustine, Texas and found shelter in the courthouse. The jury room cots were our beds and the courtroom our playground. All the cousins participated with our eldest cousin being Judge. Many of us had our first taste of how cruel the justice system could be when Judge Charles issued the verdict for our crimes! So, began my own political foundation...never trust your cousin, if he is the Judge.