Yesterday the lives of two amazing people were taken from us. We don’t know the events that occurred that took their lives right now but I just pray it was quick and painless. It’s easy to cry and feel depressed but I think they would have wanted us to remember them in a positive light. I’d like to share with you a few of my memories I had with them with the hopes of organizing my own thoughts and sharing the side of Mike and Yoli that I knew.
When I was in elementary school Mike and Yoli gave me my very first job pet sitting. Boy did they love their pets. Watching their dogs meant going over to their house multiple times a day to spend time giving them tons of love and spoiling them in any way Yoli could think of. Dixie was always on medicine for her diabetes and Yoli would have me mask her pills in pineapple cream cheese. I always wondered, “why pineapple and not just regular?” but looking back I realize Yoli couldn’t help but get the best for her babies. They would have extravagant birthday parties for their dogs, Roux Elvis and Dixie Rose, which included clowns, jumping tents for all the neighborhood kids, cake for humans AND dogs, and many more festivities.
After I first got Lucky, Yoli took me to a dog costume party. I still remember driving to the party sitting in the back seat with the dogs seeing a beautiful rainbow in the distance and simply feeling like I possessed all the happiness in the world. Every animal endeavor and project I had Yoli was there to support however she could. She was a mentor to my love for animals and helping in the shelters.
One day, Yoli and Mike were moving the location of one of their Gumbo restaurants and “hired” me to spend the morning with them helping move and organize things into the new building. Mike was joking and being silly the entire time. After Yoli and I had taken out the last box of items we stood by the hostess stand waiting for Mike to finish getting his things from the kitchen. While we were standing there Yoli said, “When you’re old enough I can hire you to help me hostess up here!” Out of everything that happened that day it’s funny I remember that part. I guess the idea intrigued me.
When I was 17, Mike and Yoli opened their new restaurant, Mama Roux’s. I got an e-mail from Yoli (who never was quite tech savvy) before the restaurant opened asking me if I wanted a job as a hostess. I immediately had a flashback to what she had said when I was younger. You see, most people would have said that and forgot, not having actually meant it, but not Yoli.
When I first started working Mike and Yoli had a lot to teach me. I had never worked a job other than pet and baby sitting and quite frankly, I knew almost nothing about a real job, especially the restaurant world. Yoli was so patient and never got frustrated with me when I made mistakes. She always made me feel good about the work I was doing and would tell me how much she appreciated my hard work. Whenever I clocked out she would always tell me, “You get yourself something to eat, we’ve gotta beef you up!” and so I would order a meal, no charge. Mike would always throw in a little something extra even though I didn’t order it, usually a dessert. Sometimes he had me try things like liver and different types of crab and fish. He would pull me into the kitchen while I was working to show me different things like how he was taking live crabs and cutting their heads off. He went out of his way to teach me and allow me to experience new things, something he didn’t have to do.
I couldnt get it to go upright
Yoli and I had so many conversations at the hostess stand together joking and laughing with Mike and the staff while business was slow. On special occasions, such as Halloween, we would all dress up and take pictures together before opening for the night. Mike and Yoli knew how to treat their staff right. They made myself as well as everyone else feel right at home.
They were at my graduation party, generous as ever. Mike took me aside and told me to get a group of 10-12 friends and come to the restaurant for a meal on the house. I never took him up on the offer because I felt guilty at what I knew would be an expensive gift. I only saw them a few times after that.
Every summer my dad always goes back to see the man and woman who first employed him. I used to imagine myself doing that with Mike and Yoli. I guess now I will just have to go back to the good memories and work ethic they instilled in me. I will carry on with my involvement with the animal shelters, maybe doing a little more than I usually would for Yoli. I’m thankful that I had the chance to learn from such amazing people and be impacted by them. To say the least, Mike and Yoli will always have a place in my heart. I wish I could have showed them how grateful I was for everything they did for me. I never thought I wouldn’t have the chance. They were a part of what shaped me into who I am today, and I will always be thankful for that. Even though I might not have been a big part of their lives, they were a part of mine.
Two great people were taken from the Earth and the world will never quite be the same without them.
