First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States
May 24, 2016
REAL DEAL
May 24, 2016
For years and years in the household of David and Charlene Robichaux there was always somebody saying for one reason or another “GoinadaPig.”
As anyone from Chauvin knows, the translation of this is, “I am going to Clement’s Piggly Wiggly on La., Highway 56 in Chauvin to get some groceries or some other thing that I need. May I bring something back for you?”
But last Saturday “going to the pig” took on a whole new meaning at the Harbor Light pavilion in Cocodrie, when the pig came to the bayou. Or put another way, when the Robichaux family brought home the bacon. Quite literally.
It’s been two years now since Charlene and David picked up stakes and moved from the house in Chauvin where they raised three boys into men, and jobs at the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office, and the memory of years they spent operating and owning the old Dock’n’Shop Marina. They traded all this for the wilds of Arkansas, joining other family members who sought ground even higher than Houma a while back. But bayou roots run deep and they still come down to visit family, of which there is plenty still here, which is what happened last Saturday.
It all had to do with their son Davey, who was born in between the eldest, Brandon, and the youngest, Cory. Cory and Brandon still live in Louisiana. Davey, who joined the Marine Corps way back, stayed in California and became a security man at a club, and on April 9 he married the former Sabrina Sakaguchi, whom he met there. Charlene and David and Charlene’s parents, Neg and Joyce, they all went to California for the wedding. But Davey wanted folks back on the bayou to meet his wife, so the couple came east in May. The union sanctified in California would be bayou formalized, so plans came together real quick for a crawfish boil and cake and some deejay music.
Charlene and David made the trip down from Arkansas with a bunch of stuff loaded in the back of the truck and now we get to the meat of the matter, which has to do with the pig.
His name is Basson and he is a mini-pig, and Charlene got him in February while bringing the grandbabies, Aden and Luke, up for a visit and her niece, Patience Bafas. Charlene knew she wanted a mini-pig, but had never quite gotten around to getting one. When most people visit Shiloh, Tennessee, it is for the battlefield, where prayers are still prayed and history experienced. Charlene stopped in Shiloh to visit a breeder of pigs. The idea was to stop and see several pig breeders, to find a pig that was socialized. Once the kids met this one, described as a “chipmunk” due to his coloring pattern, there was no turning back and no need to look elsewhere.
Patience wanted to name him “Bacon” and Charlene said, “We are not having any of that.” So then Patience suggested “Lard” and Charlene figured that was even worse from a number of perspectives.
So Patience suggested Basson. It means bacon in French, so that’s not so bad, she said. Charlene insisted Basson did not mean “Bacon” and a Google check reveals it to mean “bassoon” which is a musical instrument having little to do with pigs. But Basson it was and Basson it is, and Charlene and David packed up Basson and all his toys for the 500-mile trip. Making this much easier is the fact that already Basson is potty-trained. At the pavilion, Charlene set up a little gate around him and every so often he stuck his toes and sometimes the rest of him in the blue kiddy pool that was there for his comfort.
At the celebration, there was family and music and never-ending crawfish. And the star of the show was Basson, who was a little put off by Paw-Paw Neg’s custom motorcycle thing with the loud exhaust, which made him press ever closer against Charlene. But all was good, and the kids got to see how big he had gotten in just a few months.
Everybody said how good the beautiful white wedding cake was, which got officially cut after the crawfish had been consumed.
Charlene was asked where it came from and she answered without hesitation.
“Of course, I got it at the Pig!”
Basson, David and Charlene Robichaux’s pet mini-pig, enjoys his day at home in Arkansas. The couple, Basson in tow, was back in town this past weekend.
