G Khan

Horror story. That poor poor kid. It cuts deep when a kid is robbed of their potential from the start. Limited from living a full life. Like part of their soul is taken from them.

I have a daughter who is autistic. She is verbal and non-violent, but still hard to handle sometimes. I shudder at the thought of her in group home. She would be easy prey for abuse.

It sucks more than anything I have ever experienced. A full mindfrick. Only parents who are on the front lines living it can ever know the depths. Even with that, everyone's kid, kid's spectrum, and situation is different. Plenty I know personally have it way worse than us.

All you can do is try your best, keep fighting, and try to make the best decisions you can at the time a decision is needed.

The thing I struggle with the most is what constitutes a "meaningful life" for her? Tough tough stuff.

Positive wishes & strength to all of you out there in the trenches.

Do a google image search.

98% NW European Mutt
1% Native American
1% Basque

My pop always said his grandmother was Choctaw. We tease him because he has blond hair and light skin...but, slapped this report down on his desk and said "so you're saying there's a chance!" :rotflmao:

I looked at all the options for my truck. Owned weathertech & husky in the past. Went with Tuxmat this time around and love them (look, durability, so easy to wipe off with a towel, etc.).

Born and raised in NI.

I have lived out west after LSU, in Lafayette, and now back in the Berry.

NI was a great place to grow up. It was wild AF but also pretty rough. We learned early on to stand up for ourselves or get run over. Lots of fights, partying, and wild kids...and as someone else pointed out..great looking girls. They didn't enforce loitering laws in the early 90s and drinking age was 18...driving age was 15. We were drinking by 14/15 and riding around town making our own fun.

There are still a ton of great people in NI including younger people. The parish has a lot of great things going for it: Avery Island/Tabasco (was in a village outside Mt. Fuji on way back to Tokyo once...bottle of Tabasco on every table inside the only restaurant in the village-no matter where I go in the world, there is a good chance that not far away there reminder of where I am from), Jefferson Island, downtown NI/Main St/historic district, festivals/parades (sugarcane, gumbo cookoff, spanish, Mardi Gras parade- 10x better than youngsville ratchet arse parade w/ no marching bands & devoid of any artistic quality, Halloween, Christmas), the airbase (former Naval airbase) has some major business there, Mardi Gras crewes (Iberians, Andalusia), places to eat (pho ly ly, Bambinos, Jane's Seafood, Duffy's, Bon Creole, Tito's, food trucks around town, Amalfi's....we do miss Clementine's & Victor's), The Pie Bar, the Bayou Teche running through town, George Rodrigue and his art, The Shadows, historic homes, the Port of Iberia is ticking upwards after a 10-year drought (lots of activity ramping up out there), solar investment out by the base is yuge, an EXCELLENT mayor who is fighting...Freddy is a rock star in my opinion, the NI Haircut!, and a bunch of other positive things. NI is WAY more affordable than Lafayette/Broussard/Youngsville.

The Bad-
Violent crime is worse than it was when I was young, but is usually in the same areas...south of St. Peter St./Bayou Teche (all over the news, but reality is it is confined to areas that have always been rough and defacto segregated), not enough good restaurants, no good bars to hang at since Clementine closed...haven't been to Amalfi yet though...pie bar doesn't stay open late enough, too many walking dead types walking around or riding bikes, no good "pretty" entrance into town. Center St., Lewis St. St. Peter, & Main St...none paint a great picture on the way in to the center of town due to some of the buildings along the way...central Main St however is as good as you'll find in south Louisiana. There are not enough high paying jobs. Based on census figures, the population is slowly declining. We need people to want to live here...quality of life and good paying jobs improve that situation.

NI can't compete with Lafayette regarding restaurants/food/bars or high paying jobs. Lafayette isn't winning any beauty contests either though. It is not a pretty place...most places in Louisiana are similar...there is some beauty surrounded by ugliness. The litter in south Louisiana drives me to violent thoughts.

I spend a lot of time in Youngsville and basically live there w girlfriend 50% of the time. Youngsville and Broussard are soulless places, with no history and little personality. They are both being defined and overrun by track home neighborhoods that will be falling down in 20 years. Short sighted growth IMO. Sugar Mill Pond in Youngsville is made up of maybe 30% New Iberia People (aka NIPs). Youngsville is chocked full of us...the out migration is a shame, but it is what it is.

I am biased, but NIPs are some of the best people you will ever know! Fun, lots of personality, and usually with great stories.

Don't give up on the Berry yet.

:cheers:

Its a shame...great kid and family.

My brother lived there while at LSU as part of a study abroad/internship program. I visited for 10 days. WOW...was awesome. Like being on a different planet. I would love to go back....and to Thailand and Vietnam.

Been going to LSU games since 1982 FL State.

Best/loudest Tiger Stadium I've seen as an adult:

1995 Auburn (bring back the magic!)
1997 Florida
2012 Bama
2014 Ole Piss
2014 Bama
2022 Bama

runners up because day games
2018 Georgia
2019 Auburn
2019 Florida

2024 Ole Piss & Bama should be lit

B

Cons: It is a terrible hillbilly sounding song; not a fan of Garth or his emo alter ego :rotflmao:

Pros: