Dan and Lu’s marriage

Abstract

In New Orleans years back—say the 1910s and 1920s—the word and the business of marriage was right before you. You saw and lived amongst people who lived married lives. I saw couples living together. I heard the talk and comments of elders, always discussing problems. I grew up among relatives—aunts and uncles, great aunts and uncles, cousins—most married. Solid marriages. Wives managing homes and husbands working and providing for their families. I heard comments of people, married couples and their families. I saw my relatives live the poor black peoples’ life-style, holding steady jobs at the same location for a long stretch of years. Working, managing, not complaining; contented and living within their means. The men earning the money and the wives managing the house; the men bringing their salaries to the wives, keeping their allowance and making do.