• Part 2 •
"Friendship is the shadow of the evening, which increases with the setting sun of life."
--- Jean de La Fontaine
While life wanes without warning, friendship strengthens. Once I lost my folks, faithful friend Gayle Foret stepped up. My mother's long-time confidante, she was front and center when my daughter married. Together with her husband, son, and daughter-in-law, she hosted a beautiful dinner party for my son-in-law's family. Full of joy, Gayle was known for her spectacular shindigs. And in that vein, she insisted that the welcome party be held at "Pahkway." That's how the native New Orleanian pronounced it. Taking heed, my husband Rodney and I hosted the event --- a real hit. Everyone, from the Californians to the Germans, raved about Parkway Bakery. Giving credit where credit is due, the idea was Ms. Gayle's.
I would be remiss if I did not mention Dr. Gerry and Gayle Foret's 60th anniversary celebration at Galatoire's. Felicity, all around. I can't remember seeing her happier, tossing beads from the balcony, a whimsy she discussed with me for months. If only I could recall the toasts in tribute to the lovely couple made by great friends, like Richard Jenkins and a multitude more, my column would have written itself. But those were their memories - these are mine.
Gayle Foret and I clicked, perhaps because we were only children of doting parents, cradle to grave. We had a bird's nest on the ground. And devoted daughters, we kept our parents perpetually close. Both of us were born in late December so for decades Ms. Gayle generously gifted me the annual Reed and Barton cross for my birthday. I decorate an entire Christmas tree in her crosses. If you saw her own prodigious tree or mine, you know - she loved Christmas.
And she had a penchant for shopping, which ranged the gamut from salvage to serious antiques. A sage shopper, Gayle and her friends - I counted myself lucky to be among them - made pilgrimages to Hudson's in Hattiesburg. At the other end of the spectrum, Momma introduced her friend Gayle to Virginia Watson's Decorative Arts in McComb and to Charlie Babylon's The Chimes Antiques in Covington - favorite haunts.
Comfortable in my living room, pre-pandemic, Ms. Gayle was complimentary, not realizing that my old things were mostly my mother's and the very pieces that the two of them, together, had pursued in the 1970s and 1980s. They didn't leave a stone unturned, or a piece of Herend, in the vicinity. Even in recent years, when I uttered the word "antiques," Ms. Gayle replied, "Let's go." It was never the find, but always the hunt - just the thought of it.
I regret that she wasn't with me while I was antiquing up in Mississippi, two short weeks before her passing. An old oil painting, a small still life in pastel hues, caught my eye. Making me a price I couldn't refuse, the dealer informed that the piece came from the home of the late Dr. and Mrs. Richard Field, Jr., better known as Dr. Dick and "Miss" Betty, a prominent couple in Centreville, Mississippi. Not only was it tagged as such, it was written on the back of the frame. Dr. Dick had been a renowned surgeon, something I thought my son-in-law surgeon would appreciate. So, the pretty painting was hung in our formal dining room, before my better half arrived home from work.
But it wasn't until after Gayle succumbed that I discovered the painting had come from the Forets' extended family. The son of Dr. Dick and "Miss" Betty - Dr. Richard Field, III, also a well-known surgeon in Centreville, was one of Gayle's pallbearers. When I learned the Fields are from Centreville, it registered. The painting had belonged to his parents. Dr. Field is married to Melissa, daughter of the late Judge Burton Foret, Dr. Gerry's brother. How Ms. Gayle would have loved my acquisition, and the story. She enjoyed a good story.
But she departed too soon, in September. Gayle was cherished by her beloved husband of 63 years, Dr. Gerald Foret; sons Dr. Gerald Foret, Jr. (Jody) and Dr. Christopher Foret (Julie); grandchildren Dr. Gerald Lee Foret III (Avery), Dr. Andrew Foret, Dr. Janna Foret Nelson (Matthew), and Ashley Foret; step-grandchildren Brooke and Maloree Miller; and great-grandchildren Brighton and Jameson Foret. She was survived by special cousin Rhonda Atkinson, close friend Louise Fisher, and nieces and nephews.
As reluctant as I am to quote a Democrat herein, it was former Vice-President Hubert H. Humphrey who said, "The greatest gift of life is friendship, and I have received it." Flourishing in Franklinton for fifty plus years, Gayle left a legion of friends - far too many to list. But Dick Richardson gave Gayle's eulogy. And it was, in fact, Marilyn and Dick who had the Forets to dinner when they were considering locating here.
In my mother's secretary, I found a missive that Ms. Gayle penned to me, when I was young. Therein, she referred to close friends Johnny and Dianne Green. She closed, "Cecily, you are so sweet to Chris, he thinks of you as a sister - in fact, I was so flattered that the Green's (Johnny and Dianne's) guest thought you were my daughter - After all, I tell your mother all the time you really are part mine. With love, 'Miss' Gayle"
How blessed we were, to have received the friendship of Gayle Foret. Glory! After Gayle was laid to rest, her granddaughter Ashley Foret --- the apple of her eye --- thanked me, at Mandina's, for being her Gigi's friend. Then came the deluge of tears. The honor and pleasure were all mine.
