Shirley Frught, 76, lives in Slidell with her energetic, appropriately named little dog, Fluffy. But the road to her comfortable home in St. Tammany Parish started in New Orleans and had a pleasant stopover in the town of Violet in St. Bernard Parish, then a few not-so-pleasant stays throughout the country after Hurricane Katrina crossed her path.

“Katrina gave me a house up here,” said Frught. “We had 17 feet of water down in the parish. But I like it in Slidell. I still get lost, though. I (accidentally) went to Mississippi three times since I moved here.”

Frught spent her early days on Pauline Street near the levee in New Orleans. She was one of three children born to Louis and Frances Gabriel. When she married William Frught, she moved to nearby N. Rampart Street, where the couple raised four boys and stayed for 47 years.

Shirley Frught

Frught’s husband died 25 years ago. And, after she was robbed, her boys had her move to Violet. A while later, Katrina sent them all packing.

They initially evacuated closer to home, but in less than two weeks, Frught found herself in New York.

“I’d fractured my spine in Violet, and then I fell on the ice two times in New York,” she said.

Frught returned to Louisiana. And about six months after Katrina, after a bit more hardship, she found her home in Slidell. At first it was tough, because she was so lonely. But, thanks to the Council on Aging St. Tammany, she said, she is happy and active again, just like when she was as a child in very different times.

“I was a happy-go-lucky kid,” said Frught. “I used to just play all the time. We had to be in at a certain time. And we couldn’t go out of the neighborhood.”

Parent/child relationships were different, she said.

“When big people were talking, we had to get out,” said Frught. “We couldn’t butt into the conversation. My daddy was Italian, and he was very strict. And we didn’t tell our parents what we were going to do. They told us.”

Life in the home has changed, too.

“Then, the mother was in the home to take care of the kids,” she said. “Today everything is so expensive that both parents have to work. That’s why a lot of kids get bad. There’s too much loneliness.”

Frught now has nine grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. She said she only offers parenting and other advice when asked.

“I have great daughters in law,” said Frught. “I don’t butt in.”

But she’s there when they need her.

She said her daily visits to the hurricane-displaced Slidell Senior Center are just what she needs.

“The center has been a big help in my life,” said Frught. “The people here are so nice, and everybody gets along terrific.”

But the temporary facility is crowded, she said. She strongly urges local leadership and anyone else who can help get COAST into a larger, permanent center to move faster.

Every minute counts for the senior citizens of East St. Tammany.

Words of Wisdom is a regular series in which the rich resource of local senior citizens is tapped and shared. It is said that with age comes wisdom. No one can live 70, 80, 90 years or more and not learn something. Maybe it has to do with forecasting the weather or cleaning house. Perhaps it's about love or finding happiness in life. Maybe it's a very different surprise. In this space, the sages of St. Tammany offer their observations and advice. It is hoped their peers may be prompted to ponder a bit themselves, and that more youthful readers might save themselves some hardship thanks to the gifts of their guidance. To recommend a senior to feature, call the editorial department at 892-7980 or e-mail stnnews@wickcommunications.com.