Lafourche couple celebrate 75 years

Douglas and Genevieve Acosta have watched Lafourche Parish grow and change from the house they’ve lived in since they were married 75 years ago.

Katie UrbaszewskiStaff Writer

Douglas and Genevieve Acosta have watched Lafourche Parish grow and change from the house they’ve lived in since they were married 75 years ago.“I miss a lot of things of the old days,” Douglas Acosta said. “I guess we’re living better than we lived in the old days, but I would go back to the old days. We lived poor. A lot of people couldn’t live the way we lived. But I think we could make it.”The couple, both in their 90s, will celebrate Saturday with an anniversary party in Raceland.The Acostas met in the 1930s, when both were in their early teens. They walked 4 1/2 miles to what was then Raceland High School. It was just the two of them, Douglas said. Sometimes they’d catch a ride from a passing driver.“Back in those days, I wish we’d had a school bus. All kids now want cars, but we just wish we would’ve had a school bus to pick us up,” he joked.When he was 15, Douglas dropped out of school to work and help support his parents during the Great Depression. He worked as a sugar boiler for South Coast Corp.’s sugar refinery in Mathews, making $1.50 a day, he said.Genevieve and Douglas were 17 and 18, respectively, when they married, and after a couple months, they built a house for themselves along La. 1, between Raceland and Mathews, across the road from where Genevieve had been raised, he said.Her wedding dress cost $30, Genevieve said.“We were poor, but we had a good family. We had a good life,” Douglas said.The Acostas have five children, now in their 60s and 70s, 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren with another on the way, they said.It’s their children who encouraged them to have a big party at the St. Hilary K.C. Hall.“We had our 65th and 70th anniversaries. Our daughters said if we got to the 75th we’d have a big blowout,” Douglas said.How has their marriage lasted as long as it has?“You have your ups and down, but you’ve got to forgive one another,” Genevieve said.“You’ve got to wait things out. You can’t say, ‘I’m tired of this,’ and leave like some people do,” Douglas said.

Staff Writer Katie Urbaszewski can be reached at 448-7617 or katie.urbaszewski@dailycomet.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.