Family: Where Our Story Begins

Recently, I had the opportunity to gather with family to celebrate the life of my great aunt, Angeline Rachal Turner, whom we lovingly called Aunt Monie.

Her name carries history. She was named after my great-grandmother, another Angeline in our family line, and like many of the women in our family, she carried that name with quiet strength, deep faith, and devotion to family.

Aunt Monie was born in Cloutierville, Louisiana, later lived in Shreveport, and eventually made her home in Baton Rouge. Like so many families, ours spread across different cities and different paths as people pursued opportunity, built families, and created lives of their own. Distance, both physical and the natural evolution of life, meant that I didn’t know Aunt Monie as deeply as I wish I had.

But gatherings like this remind us that family bonds exist even when life has taken us in different directions.

Walking Into a Room Full of My People

Her service was held at Gordon Feltus Lazard Cathedral COGIC in Baton Rouge, a beautifully simple church that felt deeply familiar to me. As soon as I walked inside, I couldn’t help but think of my own family church back home in Cloutierville, St. John the Baptist Catholic Church.

Different denomination.
Different place.

Yet the same spirit.

The music was soulful and powerful, lifting the entire service into something that felt less like mourning and more like a celebration of a life devoted to faith and family.

But what struck me most was the room itself.

The sanctuary was filled with family, many people whose names I did not yet know well, but whose faces felt strangely familiar. When I walked through the doors, something in my spirit recognized them.

It’s hard to explain.

Even though I didn’t know everyone by name or story, my heart knew something deeper:

These are my people.

Maybe it was the resemblance in faces.
Maybe it was the shared blood we carry.
Maybe it was Aunt Monie’s spirit reminding us that family matters.

Whatever it was, the feeling was unmistakable, strange and wonderful at the same time.

Seeing Legacy in the Next Generation

One of the most emotional moments came when I saw her granddaughter, also named Angeline.

She looked so much like her grandmother.

The grief on her face was raw and real, the grief of losing not only a grandmother, but clearly a close companion and friend. Watching her brought me back to the deep feelings I had when I lost my Papa T’Fra, and my heart immediately filled with empathy for what she was experiencing.

During the sermon, the minister spoke about how Aunt Monie had been “loosed from her earthly bounds.”

No longer limited by the frailties of the physical body.
Now rejoicing fully in the glory of her Lord.

But what stayed with me most was what he said next.

He spoke about how her legacy continues through those she leaves behind. Looking out across the family gathered in that sanctuary, he pointed out how strong the family resemblance is, how her granddaughter Angeline reflects her so clearly, and how those same family traits can be seen throughout the room.

I looked around.

And he was right.

In the faces of cousins and aunts, in the expressions and mannerisms of people gathered there, I could see echoes of those who have passed before us.

It was a powerful reminder that our ancestors continue to live through us.

We are their living embodiment on this earth.

Their traits.
Their stories.
Their lessons.

A Journey That Felt Like Going Home

After the service, the procession to the cemetery took us along quiet country roads.

As we drove, I found myself noticing how familiar the landscape felt. The winding roads, the fields, the stillness of the countryside—it reminded me so much of the roads around Cloutierville, where our family story began.

In that moment, I realized something beautiful.

Even though Aunt Monie had lived many miles away from where she started, the journey to her final resting place felt strangely like coming home.

There was something deeply poetic about that.

Words at the Graveside

At the graveside, the minister shared something that stayed with me.

He reminded us that the best way to honor someone we love is not only through mourning, but through how we live after they are gone.

To honor Aunt Monie, he said, we must continue to be a family.
We must continue to uphold the traditions that shaped us.
We must continue telling the stories and passing forward the values that defined her life.

That is how legacy lives on.

The Quiet Strength of Aunt Monie

Even though I didn’t know my Aunt Monie as well as I wish I had, I learned so much about her that day.

I learned that she was a devoted member of her church, deeply committed to her faith and community. That part didn’t surprise me, everything I knew about her suggested a woman anchored in faith.

Over and over again, people spoke about her quiet kindness, her compassion, and her nurturing spirit.

What made me smile most was hearing about the tenderness with which she cared for those around her.

That is a trait I deeply admire and aspire to model.

Family Is Everything

That gathering reminded me of something simple but profound:

Family is everything.

Our families are rarely simple. In Creole families especially, we come in many forms.

We have different skin tones.
Different beliefs.
Different religious traditions.
Different experiences.

Some of us identify as White.
Some identify as Black.
Some simply identify as Creole.

But beneath all those differences, we still carry the same blood, the same ancestry, and the same traditions.

We do not all have to be best friends or spend every evening together.

But we should know one another.
We should acknowledge one another.
We should love one another without condition and preserve the traditions and legacies that brought us here.

Because culture does not survive through separation.

Culture survives through connection.

Moments like this are exactly why I created Bella Creole Life.

This platform is meant to be a force multiplier for connection.

Through storytelling, shared memories, genealogy resources, and cultural preservation, Bella Creole Life can help families reconnect with their roots, even when distance, time, or circumstance has separated them.

My hope is that readers take one simple step after reading this:

Call an elder.
Call the cousin who knows the family history.
Write the stories down.

I’m currently working with my own cousins to create a shared family Google Drive, where we can gather photos and documents so that those images, often discovered years later with the question “Where did this come from?”, are preserved and shared among all of us.

Every family can do this.

And every family should.

In Honor of Aunt Monie

My aunt’s life reminds me that kindness costs nothing but yields immeasurable returns.

That gentleness is not weakness, but a quiet form of strength.

And that legacy is rarely built through grand gestures, but through the small acts of love, compassion, and faith that are practiced consistently over a lifetime.

By that measure, Aunt Monie’s legacy is enormous.

The entire service, from beginning to end, was so spirit-filled that I left feeling not only the weight of loss, but also a deep sense of love and inspiration.

Though I did not know her as well as I wish I had, the service felt as though it honored her beautifully.

And in many ways, it felt like her spirit was present the entire time.

As if she were there, quietly smiling.

A Moment to Reflect

Who in your family holds stories you haven’t heard yet?

Maybe today is the day to ask.

Until next time, cousin—

take care of yourself, take care of your people, and keep living the Bella Creole Life.

With love and intention,
Cici