The story of Kookie Deaux begins way back in 2019; pre-pandemic, pre-husband, pre-twins, pre-everything-life-is-today. Granted, actual cookie-making and decorating didn't begin until the very cusp of 2022; but a story's significance is in the backstory and this, I believe, is one worth telling.
Picture this: I'm on my knees in my apartment home "office," begging; begging God for my life. And, oh how dramatic that sounds.
No, I wasn't actually dying but I was dying inside and sometimes, that's just as bad.
If I may, rewind for a moment, back to 2014 when two years sober and feeling like a fish out of water, I packed all my earthly belongings into the back of my brother's truck and drove to Hattiesburg, MS which divine intervention made my home for the next five years.
Within a few months I was hired as a marketing representative at a high-end apartment complex near the university there. This solved two problems for me-- a job and a place to live. My entire world quickly became that place which worked out well because since I'd quit drinking I could no longer mask the crippling social anxiety I felt, in basically every unfamiliar situation. Living where I worked/working where I lived (and Amazon.com) meant that I never really had to leave my little bubble. I had everything I needed-- a roof over my head, an income, a few friends, my cat StellaLuna and eventually my future husband.
I could write a novel just on my time in said bubble, but for the sake of our mutual time and attention spans, let's jump forward again to 2019 and the floor of the apartment that I was by then sharing with also said, future husband. It was the middle of the morning. I should have been in my "new" office playing at managing the place. But I'd given up on that nearly as soon as it began. (Also another story in itself, but in short, the company who'd built, and managed the complex during my entire tenure, sold to a property management company from up north who frankly did NOT do their due diligence and had never owned a hybrid community like ours-- predominantly students with a good mix of young professionals, families, and retirees. I'm also fairly certain that the main requirement for employment in their corporate office was heartlessness.)
Which is why I was praying so fervently that day. I could not, for another moment, be employed by such an unempathetic, genuinely ugly and all-around unprofessional group of people. Ugh! I know-- so dramatic, but let's just say that my stomach still twists when I think of the few short months of my life that I gave them.
So, what were you praying for, geez?!
Oh, right. I was praying that my boyfriend would get a call from some construction company back in my home state (Louisiana), saying that he'd gotten the job he'd been interviewing for, for weeks.
The call came.
He was hired-- against all odds-- they chose him.
**Now let me say here, that my husband (then boyfriend) is the best employee anyone could ever hope for. He's been promoted twice in the three years he's been with them and is now in one of the highest positions he can be.
But at the time of his initial hiring, his resume could only boast of the two summer's he'd spent working maintenance at the apartment complex; and a degree. He had no real-world experience in his field and barely any work experience.
Months later we'd find out that the day before he got the "your hired" call, they'd decided on the other candidate. That night however, two from the hiring committee dreamed of hiring him and the decision was changed last minute. LOOK NOW--- IF THAT'S NOT GOD AT WORK, I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS.
Two weeks later, we packed up an enormous U-Haul, in the rain, and made the drive to our new (my old) home state. He started work the following Monday. And we lived happily ever after....
Well, mostly, that's true, so far. But I mean, things hadn't even begun to get truly interesting.
Again, what could any of this, possibly have to do with Kookie Deaux?
Well.....
Everything and nothing.
Don't worry. I won't leave you hanging for long.