Freda Miller, Abbeville Business Owner, Passes Away

Mrs. Freda Miller of Abbeville passed away this weekend at the age of 86.  Mrs. Freda and her family owned McDonald's restaurants in Acadiana.

I met Mrs. Freda in 1992, at McDonald's in Abbeville.  The first time I met her, it seemed that there was something special about her; something about the way she seemed to love every moment of every day.  It would be a few years before I found out why.

She always greeted me with a smile, and would ask "how is the radio man today?"  Still being a new disc jockey, and still being young, I was always kind of nervous around her, as she was a client.  "I'm great, Mrs. Freda.  How are you?"

The answer was usually a simple "I am well", but it always came with a smile.

Mrs. Freda survived something that, even after seeing old newsreels, reading countless books and articles on the subject, and visiting the actual ground where the acts took place, I still can't wrap my head around.

Mrs. Freda was a Holocaust survivor.  Once I found out about her history, the curious side of me wanted to ask her a million questions, but the polite side of me told me not to ask those questions.

Now that I read her obituary and her story, I am glad that I didn't ask the questions.  Seven sisters and her mother did not survive the Holocaust.

Mrs. Freda seemed to shine like a beacon every time I would see her, whether it be at McDonald's, in the grocery store, or at an event.  As I learn more about the atrocities she experienced in her life, I am amazed that she could even muster a smile.

Mrs. Freda shared her story with the Daily Iberian in 2012.  Imagine this:  her seven sisters and her mother were killed.  She worked in the fields for the Nazis.  She was forced to march for three weeks, miles across Poland.  She slept in a pile with other prisoners for warmth, and, while they slept, some of those prisoners would die.  She lost parts of both feet due to frostbite.  She saw piles of bodies, lived with the stench of rotting human flesh, and survived. After experiencing all that as a teenager, in her later years she was able to not only muster a smile, but shine her light wherever she went.

Mrs. Freda's life should serve as a lesson, of sorts, to the rest of us. Maybe I should say "lessons": we have no idea what others are going/have gone through; the human soul is resilient; we can learn so much from our elders, if we just listen; every one of us lives with our past, it is how we deal with it that makes us or breaks us.  So many lessons come to mind.

I did not know Mrs. Freda personally.  She was a casual acquaintance, a client I did work for from time-to-time through the radio station, a resident of my hometown.  But I could tell, through that smile of hers, that she was a special lady.

I think that the most important thing that Mrs. Freda taught me is that, regardless of what happens in your life, if you have a new day, be thankful for it.  And smile.  At everyone.  Every day.

My condolences to Mr. Rudy, Larry, and the rest of the family.

(Daily Iberian, Pellerin Funeral Home)