Lois Bourgeois

Stephen's grandmother, Lois Bourgeois, passed away on January 12, 2014.  She will be greatly missed, but her last few months were very painful and difficult so we are very thankful that she is now pain free.

She was known as "The Avon Lady" by everyone.  Her husband became ill and could no longer work and so she worked two and three jobs to provide for her family.  One of those jobs was selling Avon and she never stopped.  She was in the hospice facility and being wheeled down a hallway and was selling Avon to a nurse.  That is who she was!

I remember going to her house in Baton Rouge and she would always put some Avon products out on the guest bed and let us go through them and choose whatever we wanted.  The front room in her house was her "store".  She had items displayed everywhere with prices attached to them.  Stephen told me when he was younger, he and his sister used to stay in that room on a pull out couch and after everyone had gone to bed they would get up and go look at everything.

She makes a famous jumalaya.  When Stephen and I started dating, I heard about this jumbalaya over and over.  His family just raved about it.  Whenever his grandma would come visit or they would visit her, she would make it.  I really had no idea what to expect, but the first time I had it, I was confused.  It was just rice and sausage.  It was good though, just not what I was expecting.  Over the years, I came to learn that this was a special family recipe and that jumbalya can be made many different ways.  This recipe is specific to their family and something they grew up eating and loving.  Comfort food at it's finest!  And it's only made a few times a year, when grandma visits or we go visit her, so it's always a special meal to have.   It's made a very special way and at one point in the cooking process, the lid can not be removed for a few hours.  Stephen would always open the lid and sneak out a piece of sausage.  And then get yelled at my his mom and grandma!

Lois was very special to many people and she will be greatly missed.  She was a woman of incredible faith and we can all rejoice knowing she is in heaven and no longer in pain.