Growing up in New Orleans, I never really thought about Mardi Gras too much. It was something that I did every year with family and friends, and I had a lot of fun. Around the time I was 10, I moved from New Orleans and I just stopped going to parades. It was not my decision. It was mainly because my mother didn't find the joy that she used to have when she went to parades. Over the years I found myself partly adopting her beliefs, but I didn't shut out Mardi Gras completely. I mean I do live in Louisiana and almost every town within proximity of New Orleans has some sort of parade. Where I live in St. John Parish, we have the Laplace Parade, which has a theme of mostly food. It's not as big as New Orleans parades, but you can expect to have a good time.
I guess I never thought about it before, but Mardi Gras is very essential in the New Orleans and Louisiana culture. I believe you don't really understand the importance of what you have until you grow up and hear what it does to other people. Most of my family who still lives in New Orleans love and can't wait for parade season. They can't wait to catch coconuts, have crawfish boils, listen to great live music, and get drunk beyond imagine. But I believe that Mardi Gras gives them a deeper connection with their city and a chance to show off to the tourist that this is the place they wake up to every day.
Mardi Gras is all about the people, sure it's great with the elaborate costumes and the floats, but without people it would be nothing. However, it's not just any people, it's the people of the city of New Orleans (and Louisiana) who just enjoy life and embrace being different.
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