Karolyn Denson Landrieux
Bio
Karolyn lives in Paris and Pittsburgh. She loves travel and has travelled most of the world, she enjoys time at home with family. Whether it's cooking, painting, designing or writing, creativity is her passion. @karolynd88 @maxineandbeanie
Stories (36/0)
Breaking the Rules
I wrote this poem when I was a senior in high school. Like so many other young ladies of the same age I was suffering teenage angst. I was attending an all girl boarding school in Middleburg, Virginia when I wrote this. I had a plan to attend university the following year. I was doing all of the things that I was told I was supposed to do. I followed all of the rules.
By Karolyn Denson Landrieuxabout 21 hours ago in Poets
Cleopatra
I had the opportunity to spend a lot time with my daughter and her girls this summer. I see so much of our family history in them. I see some of my mom, Kathryn, and their great-grandmother Charlotte. I see my grandmothers in them as well. I see myself and their mother too. Our female ancestry is strongly represented by these two fiercely independent young people.
By Karolyn Denson Landrieux2 months ago in Motivation
Choosing To Be Brave
My husband and I recently finished our 2 weeks of vacation. It always amazes me that we spend months filled with anticipation waiting for vacation to arrive only to have it speed by in what seems to be a flash. We spent the first week on a cruise which is one of our favorite ways to vacation. We got hooked after we did 2 weeks for our honeymoon on board the actual Love Boat. Many of you may not remember that cheesy sitcom from 1976 to mid 80s but yes… that actual ship. There were only about 365 passengers on board and half as many crew so we got to know each other very well by the end of our two weeks. It was glorious. This one was good too. We were on a brand new ship, but nothing will compare to our 2 week adventure on The Love Boat.
By Karolyn Denson Landrieux2 months ago in Humans
Manifesting Destiny
Acting As If After we moved out of my grandmother’s house when I was a pre-teen, we became poor. We went from a middle-class family life to an impoverished life instantly. Or at least it seemed that way to me. My mother chose for us to be poor, I thought. I was ashamed and I was angry. In all fairness, all teenagers are angry though. Mom was in banking and was not making much money. As a single mother of color with two children there was not much money to made in the 70’s. We had a roof over our heads and we had food. In our community that was winning. Mom was not able to sustain payments on our 3-bedroom apartment after awhile, so we moved to a one bedroom apartment that she could afford in a triplex on Coalmont Street in North Braddock. We lived on the 2nd level. It was small and uncomfortable to me. I went from having my own room to not having a room at all. I had no privacy. At thirteen years old, it was devastating for me. I often wore hand-me-down clothing, although mom denied that adamantly whenever I asked her about it later in life. We all did. My mother loved repurposed clothing even later in life. Nothing to be ashamed of in my humble option. My mother was an extremely proud woman. In her mind, she was always moving forward. She wasn’t taking government handouts and she was providing for children. She was no longer living in her parents home as an adult, so she was winning. Mom always presented herself flawlessly, as the queen she believed that she was. She would actually say she was a queen, long before it became rhetoric. She was very good at acting as if. We had a tiny black and white tv with tin foil on the antenna in our tiny living room but mom acted as if we did not. She once answered a client of hers when asked “do you have a colored tv?” She replied, “Why, I wouldn’t have anything else!”. When I asked her why she told the man that? She said, “Well it’s true. If I had a choice I wouldn’t have anything else. Right now, I don’t have a choice.” She drove a second, perhaps third-hand car, but we had plenty of food and we were clean. She was independent. No government programs for her! So she was winning. She never stopped striving during her life. She went back to school a couple of times during her life and eventually got that colored tv. So yes, I knew that we were poor. I never knew just how poor until I went away to boarding school.
By Karolyn Denson Landrieux6 months ago in Journal
Bravery and Freedom
My husband and I recently finished our 2 weeks of vacation. It always amazes me that we spend months filled with anticipation waiting for vacation to arrive only to have it speed by in what seems to be a flash. We spent the first week on a cruise which is one of our favorite ways to vacation. We got hooked after we did 2 weeks for our honeymoon on board the actual Love Boat. Many of you may not remember that cheesy sitcom from 1976 to mid 80s but yes… that actual ship. There were only about 365 passengers on board and half as many crew so we got to know each other very well by the end of our two weeks. It was glorious. This one was good too. We were on a brand new ship, but nothing will compare to our 2 week adventure on The Love Boat.
By Karolyn Denson Landrieux9 months ago in Humans
Pittsburgh Girl
I lost my uncle Fred last week on December 14th. He was the last surviving sibling of my mother’s. Mom was one of 7 children and the baby of the 4 girls born before 3 boys. Mom passed 11 years ago December 11th. My grandfather passed on the same date 19 years prior. I’m sure there is some meaning to that. I don’t believe there are coincidences in the universe.
By Karolyn Denson Landrieux11 months ago in Families
My husband
I met my husband 13+ years ago. I wasn’t looking for a relationship at the time. We were friends before it turned into something more. Despite so many obvious differences we had so many more similarities. We are from different cultures, ethnicities, socio-economics, age groups and have different religious beliefs. Yet we connect so well. We have a similar sense of humor. We both love old movies and classic music. We love the theater and outdoors. We like the beach and sun. We like the mountains and hiking. We love family, wine and food. We’re still different enough to keep it interesting as well.
By Karolyn Denson Landrieux12 months ago in Families
The Audacity of a Child
My youngest granddaughter judges me. Frankly she judges everybody, but she judges me for having crumbs on the dining room, kitchen and often living room floors. She judges me with so much audacity. The crumbs on my floor are exclusively because of her but that doesn’t deter the judgment. I watched her throw a clump of rice from her high chair table onto said floor because it was “too loud”, yet she still judges me. Her “Gigi, there are crumbs” is said with so much indignation that I am speechless. Anyone that knows me knows that speechless doesn’t usually happen. When I let her know that she was almost solely responsible for the crumb situation, I am completely ignored. I get side eye and more judgment if any acknowledgment at all for my comment. This is the same little girl that would remove her soiled pull-up after nap time and throw it overboard from her crib to land mid-room. When her mommy would ask her why there is a nappy on the floor, and if she was responsible for it’s location, she would reply “ I don't see it” shooing her away with a royal wave of her tiny hand. I want to live my life with that kind of audacity.
By Karolyn Denson Landrieux12 months ago in Families
