ANNA MONICA

Family learns how much the community cares This is a tough week for Jerome and Lanelle Perilloux. Their youngest daughter, Yana, would be having her 24th birthday tomorrow, and she always loved celebrating the occasion, often dreaming up different, creative ways to do it. The only celebration this year will be in the hearts and memories of those who knew and loved Yana. She expired six months ago from injuries in a motor vehicle accident. When Lanelle and I spoke this week, warm, wonderful memories of her youngest daughter were almost overwhelming. Lanelle’s own dad, Lucien Gauff, was a Reserve native who married Garyville’s Velma White and settled in Garyville where they raised a family and were well-known and respected African-Americans as were great grandparents, Ella and Joe White. All are deceased. Yana never knew her grandfather, Lucien, but Lanelle had made certain she heard many stories about him. It was on his Jan. 8 birthday that Yana, left this earth and that coincidence reinforces the bittersweet memories. A senior at UNO, Yana was graduated from St. Charles High School, then attended Nicholls for two years before transferring. She preferred to work part-time while studying for a degree in psychology with an emphasis on child psychology, similar to the career chosen by older sister, Gabrielle. It was Gabby, a case worker for a non-profit organization, who named her sister after someone she knew as a very small child. For Lanelle, having two daughters had been her own dream come true. The Perilloux family has been thanking people for their concern since Yana’s demise, and their gratitude is especially significant this week. “I never knew people opened up like that,” Lanelle says. “People just gave of themselves.” They received numerous calls, even from as far away as Japan. Yana was a free spirit according to her mom. She loved life and found excitement in everything she did and if she didn’t find it, had special ways to create it. The last birthday party she planned for herself included a backyard tent and cookout. Like many young people, Yana loved to shop, but her greatest love was reading and she could enjoy spending an entire weekend with a book. Among the most touching condolences the Perillouxs received was a card from Dr. Benny Nobles who had delivered their daughter. Lanelle still marvels at the active life her daughter had because at her birth, Yana was called a “miracle baby,” having been born pre-mature and suffering a trauma. She wasn’t suppose to be normal, but Yana developed beautifully, in appearance and in personality. Her great-grandmother, who lived to be 101, once said, “There is something special about this girl.” Those who knew her would agree. After the January tragedy, Jerome and Lanelle are very grateful that Gabby is recovering from serious injuries she recently sustained when another vehicle pinned her against her own car. Jerome stays mostly quiet with his reflections on Yana. Lanelle says Jerome always felt he could take care of his daughters in any situation but admitted to his wife “This is something I just can’t fix.” The “thank you” notices the Perillouxs are posting to commemorate Yana’s birthday are just a small inkling of what they truly feel. They truly know they have not suffered alone and are still prayerfully regarded by many. Lanelle says, from her heart, “If ever a community has shown a family their love, you all have.” ANNA MONICA, a resident of Garyville, writes this column regularly for L’Observateur.