Pure love: A story from the pier

Ellis Cattan, a volunteer at the Gulf State Park Pier, shows a graduation picture of his wife, Linda, during a sunrise visit to the pier. (Photo by Wayne Smith.)

By Wayne Smith

“… And dream of a girl I used to know. I closed my eyes and she slipped away …”— “More Than a Feeling,” Boston

I first met Ellis Cattan one morning in March. At the time, I didn’t know he was a longtime volunteer at Gulf State Park Pier — an ambassador for one of the area’s landmarks.

He’s also an unofficial historian of the pier, able to describe the type of wood used for its railings — Ipe from the Brazilian rainforest — and how the structure was built. The original Gulf State Park Pier was destroyed by Hurricane Frederic in 1979. Its replacement lasted until Hurricane Ivan tore it apart in 2004, with the current one opening in 2009.

Ellis also posts sunrise photos and videos from the pier in the Facebook group Cajun on GS Pier. He said Google Maps has notified him that his contributions have received more than 1 million views.

I was there to see another sunrise. I was struggling a bit to walk, my feet feeling as though they were stuck in concrete. Ellis pulled up beside me on his portable, lightweight scooter.

“You need to get you one of these,” he said. “I had to get this because I go back and forth to the end of the pier.”

Ellis and Linda together for their 1972 prom date. The two reunited nearly four decades later. (Photo courtesy of Ellis Cattan.)

I learned the Louisiana native now splits his time between Gulf Shores and his home in Metairie, Louisiana. I also learned that, after many years apart, he had reunited with Linda, his 1972 prom date. They have now been married for 17 years.

We talked again on the pier on the final Tuesday morning of July, at sunrise. I learned there was much more to Ellis’s story — a railroad employee for 40 years whose tracks eventually led him back to Linda.

Life carried them in different directions after high school. Through marriages and children. Careers. Loss. Storms, including hurricanes Katrina and Ivan, the latter of which destroyed his home here in 2004.

But nearly four decades after their prom date, Ellis searched for Linda. He finally found her phone number and contacted her.

She remembered him. And they reunited.

“I searched for her for decades,” he said. “Finding Linda was the greatest blessing of my life. I thank God every day for bringing her back to me. I just know it had to be divine intervention.”

But their path hasn’t always been smooth sailing. Health issues have brought different kinds of storms.

Linda battled uterine cancer. Following successful surgery and treatment, she is cancer-free today.

“She was diagnosed shortly after we reunited,” Ellis said. “I asked her to marry me so she could be covered by my insurance.”

Ellis has faced health issues of his own, including heart problems and neuropathy, which led him to get the scooter he uses on mornings when he volunteers at the pier.

Then, two years ago, Linda stumbled over a concrete barrier and fell hard, suffering major injuries to her face and arm.

“She used to walk the beach every day,” Ellis said. “She hasn’t been able to do that since, and she doesn’t drive anymore.”

Now both 72, Ellis smiles when talking about reuniting with the girl he took to the prom in 1972.

Sometimes love takes the long road. But when it’s real, it finds its way home.

“You talk about a story,” he said. “It’s just unbelievable. She treats me better than I could ever imagine. It’s love that I’ve never felt before.”

I was walking slowly when we met again July 28 at sunrise to talk more for this column.

Ellis was sitting on his scooter at the entrance to the pier, smiling, and again he said, “You need to get you one of these.”

We waited for the sun to rise above the clouds. We talked about the pier and Tropical Storm Bertha.

Ellis Cattan photographs the sunrise July 28 for one of his social media posts.

Like his relationship with Linda, his love for Gulf Shores dates to the 1970s.

“I started coming here around 1978,” he said. “I loved it then and kept coming back on vacations. I always said I was going to have a place here.”

We talked about his career with Kansas City Southern Railway, continuing a family connection to the railroad that dated to the 1800s.

And we talked about life — how to keep going after loss.

Dorinda did not survive cancer.

Linda did.

“I realize how blessed I am,” Ellis said.

It is a good story.

And one that’s still on track.

Ellis displays a king mackerel he caught some 40 years ago from the pier in Gulf Shores. (Photo courtesy of Ellis Cattan.)