Spring house cleaning


ID


Wednesday, March 16, 201 I www.lakecityreporter.com


WORTH


OF


MEMORIES


Flo Bizaillon
has done a
lot and she's
not done yet

By LEANNE TYO
Ityo@lakecityreporter.com
 Florice "Flo"
 Bizaillon of Lake
 City has made
 the most of
 every moment
of her life all 93 years
of it. '
 When her husband,
Romayo "Chico," passed
away in May.1973 -just six
months shy of their 25th
wedding anniversary when.
he and Bizaillon were both
56, Bizaillon continued
to persevere through the
older stages of her life.
 She began her 38 years
as a widow earning her
cosmetology license from
Live Oak's vocational tech2
nical school at age 60 and
returning to the school
soon after to study child
care, classes she took with
the encouragement of her
sister that were paid for
through her late husband's
military benefits.
 "I didn't know whether
 I could make it or not
 because I only finished
 the sixth grade," Bizaillon
 said.
 But Bizaillon did make
 it. She passed her exams
 and employed her skills
 in caring for others by
 fostering and baby-sitting
 children, one of which had
 special needs from being


 Photos by JASON MATrHEW WALKERIL it ~F'Reporter
Top left: Lake City resident Florice 'Flo' Bizaillon has experienced a lot in her 93 years of life, and she plans on going through even more good times.

Above: Florice Bizaillon has a passion for gardening in her flower beds and vegetable gardens. She said she is her happiest when she is active and not sit-
ting in front of the TV. .


brain dead at birth who
Bizaillon later adopted and
still cares for at age 35
- Jennifer.
 "She's a miracle,"


Bizaillon said.
 Perseverance was not
an aspect of life Bizailloni
learned only in her older
years.


Florice Bizaillon (center) poses with her adopted daughter Jennifer (left) and her oldest
daughter Barbara Griffin. Bizaillon adopted Jennifer after Jennifer was diagnosed as brain
dead at birth.


 With her family,
Bizaillon moved to a farm
outside Branford in 1930 at
the beginning of the Great
Depression' .
 "I went through the
Depression and I could go
through another one," she
said.
 Bizaillon said she picked
cotton, strung tobacco and
watched how her parents
worked hard to support
her family.
 "My mother worked in
the fields just like a man,"
she said. "She could cut
wood like a man."
 The idea of working
hard was instilled in
Bizaillon.
 "One of my favorite
things to say about my
mom is that she's walked
in a man's shoes ever
since Dad died in '73," said
Barbara "Bobbie" Griffin,
Bizaillon's oldest daughter.
"And she has."' .
 When asked how she
 has made it to 93 years
 of age, Bizaillon simply
 replied, "Hard work and
 good living. Old-fashioned
 cooking."
 Bizaillon moved to Lake
 City in June 1971 to the
 property she still occupies
 after her husband retired


from the military on 100
percent disability in 1970.
He served 31 years in the,
U.S. Army with the final 18
being in Special Forces.
 "He jumped in on D-
Day," Bizaillon said. "He
fought every war we had
from D-Day to.Vietnam,
three tours. Korea, all of
them. He volunteered for' :
every one."
 Romayo Bizaillon
,passed away from a severe
stroke at the Lake City VA
'Medical Center. Griffin
said Romayo Bizaillon
asked her mother to place
American Beauty roses on
his grave every Memorial
Day.
 "He has been gone 38
years now and she hasn't
missed a date," Griffin
said.
 Bizaillon remembers
 when Lake City had only,
 one two-lane street and the
 Blanche Hotel was' Lake
 City's first.
 Now, she still invests
 her time into others, her
 Christian faith and her
 flower and vegetable gar-
 dens her favorite hobby.
 "I've got to be outside,"
 Bizaillon said. "Don't sit
 me down on a couch."
 "My husband told me if


I didn't have sand between
my toes, I wouldn't be
happy," she said.
 Bizaillon said her great-
est accomplishment has
been caring for her prop-'
erty and her home.
 "The biggest thing is
my place," she said. "I love
the outdoors. All of these
flowers you see, I planted
them."
 She likes Lake City
because of its convenience
to her doctors and the
stores, and she plans to stay.
 "It's just home,"
Bizaillon said.
 Bizaillon will celebrate
her 94th birthday Monday.
 "I've never been
 ashamed of my age," she
 said. "Never."
 Griffin said her mother
 tells people that she'll live
 to be 100, but Bizaillon
 said that decision isn't up
 to her.
 "That's for the Lord to
 say," she said.
 Bizaillon's advice: Don't
 worry about tomorrow.
 "I'm not a worry per-
 son," she said. "I tell
 everybody I don't worry
 about tomorrow. It's gone.
 I live today. Tomorrow's
 .not here. And that is no
 story."


93


YEARS