MonticelloLive

Gretchen and James Cucurullo and their daughter Tessa left Mississippi and Louisiana, along with other family and friends, August 2005, to get out of the path of Hurricane Katrina.

Their intentions were to evacuate and to take Tessa to a motel for a few days of swimming and fun with her nieces, friends, and cousins, then return home. Days turned into weeks, and Tessa began school in Monticello.

They have been profoundly impacted by what they have gone through, with not being able to find out if all their loved ones were safe, and not knowing if they had lost everything.  As the family sat in their motel room for weeks, they found out they were in a very special place.

Gretchen says she could not begin to tell anyone about her life without trying to let them know how one town (and its people) mean so much to them.  She could write a book about all the acts of kindness shown to them in Monticello.  She says, “We have received a lesson in the human spirit that we will never forget.”

The Cucurullos had no intentions of ever leaving their home.  James and Gretchen met when Gretchen was still in high school, and they have been married for almost 40 years. Tessa has one older sister, Cherie Ohrabka, who along with her husband, Malachi, and daughters, Malarie and Mia, (they added a son, Matthew, 8 months ago), also came to Monticello, while running from the storm. They lived here for almost a year, but have since moved back to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.

Cherie is a Doctor of Audiology and a Speech Therapist.  They tried  to stay here, but they couldn’t find jobs in their fields in this area.

As they would get news in those first days following Katrina, they knew they were already in “the group of blessed and lucky ones” because they had gotten out of the storm.  No matter what the fate of their home was, they would survive. Going back and seeing all the devastation was one of the hardest things they had to do. To witness the total loss of homes and of generations of family photos, along with treasures of a lifetime, and to see people struggling to rebuild their lives was overwhelming.

Gretchen will talk occasionally about going back to find her childhood home in Chalmette, LA, only to realize that not only was it destroyed, but the whole town was ravaged.  When they went to see what they could salvage from their home in Bay Saint Louis, MS, she will proudly show you the one thing she found in the rubble, a small plaque from a Thomas Kincaide painting that had been hanging in her living room that reads “Home Is Where The Heart Is.”

Bit by bit they were being convinced that they were where they were suppose to be and that everything happens for a reason.

One day, when they were still at the Days Inn, they got a knock on the door.  The newcomers were met with toys, diapers, etc., and an offer to stay in an old house on West Bolling Street, free, for as long as it took to figure out what they would do next.

They have since purchased the house, andwhen James is in Monticello, he is busy renovating it. He still returns to the Westbank of New Orleans where he has operated his company in the business of painting, wallpapering, and sheetrock repairs. 

James is an avid fisherman and loves to go bass fishing with his twin brother, when back in Louisiana.

The first morning they woke up in their new home, they were met with another knock on the door. This time it was their neighbor, a special lady, Bennie Carol Wade, who brought fresh baked bread for the family and gave them a key to her truck because she realized they had driven to Monticello in one vehicle (4 adults and 3 children).  Needless to say Bennie Carol became another one of those special people who make Monticello feel like home!

The Cucurullos have a firm belief that the main reason for their relocation is a “God Thing”.  They could not believe how one church whose motto is “The church that loves and serves people,” really did love them and serve them.  Men, and women; old and young, worked tirelessly to meet the needs of the evacuees. That church was joined by other churches in the community to cook meals, help clothe them, and help with all the business of keeping the evacuees notified of where to go for assistance with FEMA, Red Cross, etc..

The family is proud to  be members of First Assembly of God Church, where they have met so many genuine believers who have a mission to share the message and love of God.  Tessa loves everything about Monticello, and has from the very beginning.  She loves her school, MHS, where she is a straight “A” student, and participates in numerous clubs and activities. Tessa is also an MHS Cheerleader  She is also actively involved with the Youth of First Assembly.

Gretchen still rarely has a day go by when she is not asked, “Where are you from?”, and though she intends to stay here, she knows she will not lose her New Orleans accent. They also refuse to give up on their love of  Crawfish, the New Orleans Saints or the LSU TIGERS!

Thanks to the Cucurullo’s for sharing your One Monticello Life.

Click on the tab at the top of the page to read other editions of One Monticello Life.