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    Tattered Jeans

    Louisiana Revisited: Searching for Hanna, Walking the Way of the Cross

    Katie Oxford
    Katie Oxford
    Jun 30, 2013 | 12:00 pm

    Editor's Note: In 2010, Katie Oxford filed a series of riveting columns from the heart of the Gulf oil spill disaster. She recently returned to Louisiana to find out what happened to some of the people she had talked to back then. This is her tenth column in a new series.

    In Montegut, the Live Oak Baptist Church was celebrating Good Friday with a crawfish boil. Earlier, I'd asked a member there if I could attend, and in that simple, warm word you so often hear in Louisiana, Arline said, "Sure."

    I admit that I had a motive. Really, it was a hope, that someone might tell me where Hanna was, a little girl who I'd met three years ago when she was sweeping inside the Church.

    Strangely, Hanna had haunted me. Maybe it was her innocence and exuberance that I wanted to protect. Nurture. There seemed a loneliness about her that scratched something deep. Wanted to give company to.

    When I'd called the Church earlier, the current pastor, Matthew Chouest, said that Hanna and her family had moved. He wasn't sure where exactly, but he thought they lived in New Orleans. I'd asked others in the community but no one seemed to know.

    When I returned to Louisiana, I would visit Hanna again. Success wasn't essential. Only the knowledge that when I left Louisiana, I'd done everything I could to keep that promise.

    I was set on finding her, which was exactly my promise. When I returned to Louisiana, I would visit Hanna again. Success wasn't essential. Only the knowledge that when I left Louisiana, I'd done everything I could to keep that promise.

    On Good Friday morning, I was glad to be back on Hwy 665, a narrow winding road that stirs the senses a little like the Bayou DuLarge. Not surprisingly, an unexpected stop was just around the corner.

    In Montegut, near the Pointe Aux Chenes Elementary School, I saw a long line of people moving down the sidewalk. Leading them was a boy carrying a cross. Russell Dardar was walking too. At intervals, they stopped while someone holding a microphone read from a leaflet. I'd pulled over to observe all this.

    Minutes later I made a U-turn and followed the line to St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church where the sign out front read "Walking Way of the Cross." There, I spotted other friends. Anna Mae and Raymond Dupre, who I'd dropped in on during previous trips, were standing there on the steps. "Hey Pirogue!" Anna Mae called out (it was a nickname she'd given me), "I thought you'd left!"

    I was reminded that the love between Anna Mae and Raymond is palpable. Sorta like how the Bayou Lafourche rolls toward the Gulf. A force you see not hear. Refreshing. In July, Anna Mae and Raymond will celebrate their 66th wedding anniversary.

    After a prayer in the parking lot, folks moseyed over to an oak tree where lunch was spread across picnic tables. "I hope you'll join us," said Father Thomas warmly. Suddenly, I wished that I wasn't scurrying off to the crawfish boil but, then, so it goes here. In Louisiana, your heart's tugged all the time, like a crab on a string of bacon.

    I thanked Father Thomas but explained that I had to be somewhere else.

    As I turned into the driveway at the Live Oak Baptist Church, members were gathering next door underneath the blue house on stilts where Hanna had lived.

    Pastor Matthew Chouest was at the grill cooking up some grillades, he called them. (Pronounced GREE-yahds). "It's pork roast sliced real thin," he explained. You add a little barbecue sauce along with Tony Chachere's Creole seasoning and voila.

    It was a small but friendly group. When someone's name was spoken, it came with a prefix like "Brother Jay, "Sister Shirley." They seemed to have known each other for longer than they had lived. Jake Billiot was there too, wearing a blue shirt the color of the sky.

    We sat at picnic tables near a lemon tree and enjoyed a fine meal of crawfish, crabs, grillades and things made in home kitchens. Someone brought a cake with rows of strawberries on top the size of golf balls.

    Before heading back to Galliano, I took a group photograph. Then, I thanked them, especially, Bernadette, the pastor's wife. Earlier, she'd handed me a slip of paper. "If you can't reach Hanna's family," she said, "this man can probably give you their number."

    Nice thing was, I hadn't asked her.

    In Montegut, near the Pointe Aux Chenes Elementary School, I saw a long line of people moving down the sidewalk. Leading them was a boy carrying a cross.

    1 Katie Oxford Louisiana Revisited Part 10 June 2013 \u201cLeading them was a boy carrying a cross.\u201d
    Photo by Katie Oxford
    In Montegut, near the Pointe Aux Chenes Elementary School, I saw a long line of people moving down the sidewalk. Leading them was a boy carrying a cross.
    unspecified
    news/city-life

    This Week's Hot Headlines

    Sudden shutter of Killen's Barbecue leads our top 5 Houston stories

    CultureMap Staff
    Dec 6, 2025 | 11:00 am
    Killen's barbecue meat platter with sides
    Photo by Robert Jacob Lerma
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    Editor's note: It's time to look back at the top Houston news of the week, including a sudden shutter and our favorite dishes of the month. Catch up on our most popular stories below, then plan your weekend right here.

    1. Exclusive: Killen's Barbecue will soon shutter in The Woodlands. Killen’s Barbecue’s location in The Woodlands closed for good on Thursday, December 4, just a few days after the shutter was announced.

    2. 2-acre Houston patio bar rebrands with new name and family-friendly menu. A bar in Houston’s Near Northside neighborhood is switching things up with a new name and revised menu. Effective immediately, Woodland Social is now known as White Oak Social.

    3. 2 Houston suburbs named top-10 best Texas cities to move to. Several Houston neighbors have been deemed the best Texas cities to move to, with two local suburbs placing in the top 10.

    4. CultureMap editor's 10 favorite dishes at Houston restaurants in November. November’s dining adventures consisted of a couple of new restaurants; an upscale, contemporary Chinese restaurant in River Oaks; an ambitious neighborhood eatery in Garden Oaks; and a buzzy barbecue spot on the border of Conroe and The Woodlands. Here are Eric Sandler's favorite dishes.

    Lazy Lane birria beef paccheri Lazy Lane is already winning fans in Garden Oaks. Photo by Eric Sandler

    5. Astros and Rockets finally launch streaming service for Houston sports fans. Houston sports fans finally have a way to watch their favorite teams without a cable or satellite subscription.


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