The Schexnaiders are an amazing family, and they definitely need their own section in our writings. We first met Lee when James Thibodeaux took us into Abbeville one day. James and Beth had told us about Lee and Sheila, but without ever really seeing which house they pointed out, and without meeting them, it was hard to relate. On this particular day Lee had come home at lunch to care for one of their English Springer spaniel dogs that had a broken leg, so James stopped in to introduce us. Having only a few brief minutes to talk, we were nonetheless really entertained by Lee’s dry sense of humor, and we loved the house. As we left, Lee told us he’d have us over to dinner one night. We figured it was nothing more than the usual polite comment that people make.
Then one fateful Saturday, Father’s Day, Lee pulled up at the airfield, catching us just having returned from a hot and sweaty 18-mile bike ride. He issued an invitation to have lunch with him and his family, so after begging a short reprieve for showers and a change of clothes, we headed out with him.
What an amazing family, and what a crowd was there! We met Lee’s wife Sheila, her 15-yr-old son Courtney, and Lee and Sheila’s almost 3-yr-old son Phillip. We met Elray, Lee’s dad, with his wife Nancy. We met Kerry and his wife Becky (Kerry is Elray’s son and Lee’s oldest brother), and Neil (next in line). We met one of Elray and Nancy’s two children – 19 yr-old Lauren, with her 9-month old adorable son, and we heard about 16 yr-old Carson who was away at camp. Sheila’s mom and 2 of her sisters were there, as were Becky’s sister and husband (we met Ruthann, Sheila’s sister but her other sister was out fishing the whole time we were there). It took us several days to get all the names associated with the faces and personalities!
We had an absolutely wonderful time, despite the fact that they were all family and we were total strangers – it’s that Cajun hospitality. Elray and Nancy talked to us quite a bit, and asked a number of questions about us and our trip, and told us a number of stories about the area. There was never a dull moment. The food was unbelievable – Sheila had prepared a great deal of it, but nearly everyone brought something. It was on Father’s Day that we were introduced to a local habit – everyone has clean to-go buckets in stacks (they buy them in bulk at Sam’s Club), and at the end of the day, each family simply fills a to-go bucket with whatever they want, and off they head home. It’s a great custom!
We outlasted everyone (we needed a ride home from Lee), and late in the day we had a chance to talk to Lee and Sheila quietly. After hearing about us during the day, and knowing that we were sleeping on the floor at the airfield, with only the basic amenities, they showed us the original part of the house – a one-bedroom cottage attached to the main house in front, and asked if we’d be interested in staying there. Talk about luxury accommodations compared to the small space we had! What attracted us the most was how much like a real home it was. It had a great bed in a separate bedroom, a beautiful living room with a great porch in front and bird feeders we could see from inside, a porch swing, and a real kitchen, and a full bathroom. It was the little touches that got me, like throw rugs near the bed, in the kitchen, and in the bathroom, clocks and artwork on the wall – it was a real house! And I must admit that the showers with the well water at the airfield were very hard on our hair. We agreed that we’d come stay with them, and asked if 2-3 weeks would be too much time to stay with them.
The main house is built on huge pilings, right on the Vermilion River. It’s got floor to ceiling windows on 3 sides, giving it great views up and down the river. There’s a huge wraparound porch and lots of beautiful green lawn sloping away to the river. It’s located about 8 miles northeast of Abbeville on Hwy 82, and it’s surrounded by private residences and smaller horse farms. The whole area is peaceful and quiet, with only the river traffic (barges for the limestone/shale plant upriver are frequent, and some private boats), and the traffic from Hwy 82, which isn’t noticeable at all (the house is far away from the road, and the traffic is all local traffic).
We still stayed at the airfield for another few days, as we dearly loved those huge green fields, and the entertainment of the community there – not knowing who would unexpectedly drop in. We also loved the flying so much that we could hardly bear to miss any opportunities to fly. Even though we were only going to be 2 miles away, we knew that we probably wouldn’t be flying quite as often, and we weren’t quite ready to let that go! But the lure of a “real” house called us, so we loaded everything up and bicycled over.
We came to love the Schexnaider family as if they were our family. We had already joined them for Father’s Day, and we got to attend Elray’s birthday party a week or so later. We went to Phillip’s 3rd birthday party, and we hung out with Courtney sometimes at the house. Courtney took us on a hilarious canoeing expedition on the Vermilion River with one of the dogs. The water level was so low that Courtney ended up pulling us through a number of low spots in a small bayou off the main river, with the dog always out of the canoe and swimming in the water. We headed back just as a big storm hit us, with thunder and lightning cracking around us – very exciting!
Courtney is a very bright young man, and it was very interesting getting his take on things when we had a chance to talk to him – we didn’t get as much chance as we would have liked as he was only there a week or so when we were there.
The two dogs became buddies of ours – normally outdoor dogs, Spot and Baby Girl were spending their time indoors, just outside our “back” door, as Spot had broken his leg. Normally the vets would just put a cast on it, but Spot would inevitably head for the river with his cast on, or he’d manage to pull it off. After having the cast put on 3 times in a week, Spot was relegated to the inside until he healed.
We helped out when we could by walking Spot during the day, so Lee didn’t have to leave work and drive home. Sweet Pea, the cat, would take over the porch swing in front, and greet us enthusiastically every time we came in or out.
Phillip is a piece of work – a real little pistol. Talk about bright and lively! The minute he’d come home from daycare he’d head for our part of the house. What’s this? What’s this? How does this work? Why is this here? What’s this? Why are you doing that? The questions were endless. A typical 3 yr-old, he was into everything, and had enough energy to put 8 adults to shame. He has a really endearing habit of repeating everything anyone said to him, and we could just see him filing away each piece of information into that prodigious brain of his as he repeated it. And he was unbelievable in his kinesthetic abilities too – we saw him sail around on his little ATV like he had been driving for years. He has amazing balance and could cut corners within centimeters without ever hitting anything or slowing down. He’ll be giving Lee and Sheila a run for their money for a number of years yet! I can’t wait to see him in another ten years…
Kerry and Neil are Lee’s two older brothers. Kerry, in his mid-40s, is the oldest. After another career, Kerry switched fields and went back to medical school, finishing his schooling and residency only a few years ago. An internist, he started his own practice two or three years ago, and is in the early stages of developing a thriving practice. We didn’t get too much chance to talk to Kerry, but I finally got to talk to him for a few minutes at Elray’s birthday party, and I was really impressed. He is computerizing his entire practice, including billing, and since he is starting at the beginning of his practice, he has a significant advantage over other doctors’ practices, as what he is doing from the beginning would take other doctors a really significant amount of time and money. It was great hearing his ideas on streamlining things.
Neil is next in line, a year or two younger than Kerry. Neil has the reputation of being able to fix anything, and he’s working for the oil industry doing just that – much in demand to fix whatever needs fixing. He too has an engineer’s mind, and brainstorming with him about our trailers and the needed fixes was very entertaining and useful. He’s very outspoken, and doesn’t hesitate to make his opinions known. Subtle is not a word I’d think of with Neil. I had only met him once, with virtually no chance to talk to him privately, when he arrived at the house to fix our refrigerator with Lee. He leaned against the door and said “So, Rosemary, what do you think of the energy policy in this country?” Now that’s a simple conversational opener if I’ve ever heard one. We just loved his approach…
Lee and Sheila must be two of the kindest and sweetest people we’ve met. Now this is not to say that they are quiet and unobtrusive, or unassuming in any way. Lee is a manager at the water district in Abbeville, with quite a bit of responsibility, and Sheila has been reading meters for well over a decade, and now supervises a group of six, as well as having her own schedule of meters to read. Both of them are true Cajuns, with all that that means. They are incredibly hospitable, and like the rest of the family, they are fiercely independent and outspoken, though Sheila appears to be more so than Lee at first glance (it just takes a while to get to know Lee because he is quiet). We loved Sheila, among other reasons, because you always know where you stand with her, and what her position is on any subject. Both are very bright, they are well read, and have that amazing Cajun ingenuity. It’s so clear how much they love each other and love the kids, and each of them is heavily involved with their families. They are very funny, and Lee comes out with some comments that leave us gasping in surprise and laughter. Again, we are both humbled and honored to have been “adopted” by them. And we love their cooking!
Elray is the father of Kerry, Neil and Lee. Seventy-something, and married to Nancy for ages now, he has two children with Nancy – Carson (16) and Lauren (19). We didn’t get a chance to see much of Carson as he was at camp while we were there, and Lauren is off on her own, working and supporting her darling now 10 month old. They were both great young adults, and held true to the family line. Nancy and I got along great – I really enjoyed my time with her and wished I could have had more. We ended up seeing a lot more of Elray than we did of Nancy, so we’ll post more about him later. We thoroughly enjoyed our chances to see Nancy and Elray and the family.
Now, you know it’s an amazing family when I can write over 3 pages about them and still have only covered the surface! The gods of travelers were smiling on us the day we met the Schexnaider clan!