Gail Forschler first was a city girl. Then she was a country girl. Now that she’s a city girl again, she plans to keep it that way. But let’s go back a bit, all the way to second grade when Gail met Carlinda Goussen and Carlinda’s cousin, Frank “Sonny” Catoire.

She kept them both. Carlinda, also a member of our Class of 1961, is still her best friend. Gail and “Sonny” were married on October 10, 1964, after being friends for as long as they could remember. Sonny was the auto parts service manager for an automobile dealership. Gail’s secretarial skills landed her the position of secretary to the vice president of Pan American Life Insurance Company.

The couple’s foray into country life came when Sonny encouraged their move to Poplarville, Mississippi, where he said they could have land to farm and raise animals. But to Gail, animals—all animals—are pets. Sonny, now immersed in farming, had other ideas.

Farm life eventually lost its appeal, and the couple moved to Slidell to be of help to Gail’s aging parents. Sonny died in 1994, and Gail says she misses him every single day. When someone has been a part of your life for that long, she said, you miss them forever.

The couple raised three children. Their daughter, Michelle, works as a registered nurse. Their daughter, Yvette, is a real estate agent with Keller Williams. Their son André is groundskeeper at Mt. Carmel Convent.

Gail’s grandchildren—two girls and a boy—are now her delight. Ashley is 17; Lauryn is nine; and André, Junior, is four. Gail spends any spare time she finds either sewing or working in her garden.

She still has Carlinda, and they communicate often, although her old friend is living in Turkey with her daughter, whose husband is stationed there.

Compiled from bio form.