View Map

I came to Edmonton on June 18th, 2006. After living my whole life in New Orleans, two things brought me to Edmonton.

The first reason is my son. After Katrina hit in 2005, my son’s college was destroyed and he could not return to his classes. Since he had come to know a girl on the Internet who lived just outside of Edmonton, he decided to come up here and meet her in person. It was the best thing he ever did. They hit it off real good and this girl’s mother took him to NAIT where they offered him a very good deal to finish his education, and he did.

After my son settled in Edmonton, he asked me to come up and join him. His mom had passed away in ’02 and it was just him and me. “Dad, I love you,” he said, “come up here and retire.”

Now, I love my son, and I want to be near him and all…but retire?

Being a pipefitter, and not knowing much about Canada, I went down to the Local 60 in New Orleans and asked them if they had union halls up in Canada.

“Well, sure,” they told me.

“And how about in Edmonton?” I asked.

“Well, sure,” they told me. That was all I needed to know! They hooked me up with the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local Union 488, and here I am working in Edmonton. The Local 488 has been good to me and Edmonton is a good place for me to work.

The second thing that brought me to Edmonton was the R.C.M.P. These people were in New Orleans after Katrina saving women and children from rooftops. When I saw that, I just said, “Yeah! Way to go, Canada!”

I recently received my Permanent Residency and now I am a Canadian, too. In fact, not only am I now a Canadian, but I am marrying a Canadian! I found myself a nice little sugar up here and I am just as happy as can be. My son is married to his girl now, they have three kids and he is just as happy as can be, too.

New Orleans is my home in my heart and always will be, but I don’t want to go home. I live in Edmonton now, and I just love it here.