There's a bold billboard on Johnston Street near the University of Louisiana at Lafayette campus with a simple message: LOVE.
That's it. No company logo in fine print. No attempt to sell something during "these uncertain times." Just those four letters in white text against a purple backdrop.
"I'm amazed that it's getting this much traction," says Abby Shiber Picou, the woman behind the billboard. "It was just a way to share love and awareness of dementia. It was really just for us to have a way to honor her."
Picou is referring to her mother, Nadia Shiber, who died April 7 at the age of 64 from complications of Alzheimer's Disease.
Shiber didn't get the kind of funeral service she deserved because of coronavirus restrictions, so Picou thought the billboard might be a way to honor her mother and remind people of the importance of loving one another in the midst of a public health and economic crisis.
"She always taught us to love each other," Picou said. "I wanted to feel her love around me and share her love because that's been her legacy."
Abby Shiber Picou is pictured with her mom, Nadia Shiber, who died April 7 from complications of Alzheimer's Disease.
Londyn Dugas declared May 5 the "best day ever."
Purple was her mother's favorite color, and it's also the color used for Alzheimer's awareness.
The billboard went up last week ahead of Mother's Day and will stay up for at least a month more.
Picou said the sign serves as both a way to commemorate her mom on the first Mother's Day without her and to honor her mom through the 40-day period since her death, as is tradition in Middle Eastern culture.
When asked what her mother would think of the tribute, Picou laughed.
"I definitely think she would tell me that I was crazy to waste my money on something like that because we grew up kind of poor," Picou said. "She would be like, 'What were you thinking?' Or she would tell me I could have donated it to the church."
Picou paused to reflect before adding, "I also think she would be proud of me that her legacy stuck."
A bouquet of flowers and a photo of Abby Shiber Picou with her mom, Nadia Shiber, are pictured on Mother's Day.
Abi Bordelon was beyond careful during the final weeks of her second pregnancy as the novel coronavirus spread across Louisiana.
The family moved to Lafayette from Jordan in 1986 in pursuit of a better life. Picou was 3 at the time.
Although they found freedom to practice their Christian religion in south Louisiana, things were far from easy for the family. Picou's father died 10 years after the move, leaving her mother to raise four children alone.
Still, Shiber pursued her dream of starting a Greek Orthodox church in Lafayette, which first met in her home and eventually grew into Archangel Gabriel Antiochian Orthodox Church on Eraste Landry Road.
"She was so proud of that fact," Picou said. "When she started getting sick and we told her she couldn't drive anymore, she would sometimes find her keys and steal them and go to church. She was so adorable. It's not like she was going to a boyfriend's house. She was going to church."
Shiber was diagnosed with early onset dementia at just 57 years old.
Picou cared for her mother for five years before she needed round-the-clock care in a nursing home facility.
Abby Shiber Picou is pictured with her mom, Nadia Shiber, who died April 7 from complications of Alzheimer's Disease.
Visitation was forbidden in the weeks before her mom died because of coronavirus restrictions, but Shiber was able to return home for her final days through hospice care.
Shiber held on until all four of her children made it home to say goodbye. She died with her loved ones at her side as a priest prayed over her and the church's choir sang hymns outside her window. They drank tea and ate baklava.
"Her death was kind of the way that she lived: peaceful," Picou said. "She was surrounded by the legacy of what she left behind. If there could be a beautiful death, this was. It was beautiful."
Picou remembers her mother as strict but loving. Shiber often fussed over her youngest child, a self-described "rough, tough girl." Her mother worried about her finding a husband. It's something Picou used to take offense to because she felt like she "wasn't enough."
In recent years, however, Picou has come to see things differently. Her mother was just 39 when her husband died.
"I realized that she didn't want me to be lonely," Picou said. "She later told me this, 'You're strong like a man, but you're smart like a woman.' She said she was proud of me, and that gave me so much healing."
Nadia Shiber's hand rests on the pregnant belly of her daughter, Abby Shiber Picou.
Picou got married in 2017 and now has a little boy who celebrated his first birthday in March. He is named Aidan — Nadia spelled backward — in honor of Picou's mother.
On Mother's Day, Picou took Aidan to see the billboard that honors his grandmother.
"I just didn't want to be sad this Mother's Day about it," Picou said. "I wanted to feel her love around me. I wanted to share her love, and I wanted to share her legacy because that's what she taught me."
Abby Shiber Picou is pictured with her 14-month-old son, Aidan, in front of a billboard she purchased to honor her mother, Nadia Shiber, who died April 7 from complications of Alzheimer's Disease.
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A mother's 'LOVE': The story behind Lafayette's bold billboard with a simple message - The Advocate
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