First triplets to graduate from Ascension Catholic

On Thursday, February 3, 2000 The Donaldsonville Chief published an article written by Celine Alis titled, "...Three's company." Liz Eure held her newborn triplets Catherine Noelle, Whitney Marie and Victoria Elizabeth for a photograph to accompany the piece.

"There was a whole bunch of stuff that really shouldn't have been in there," Liz Eure said. "Basically, I just want it about the kids. I don't need my age or all that good stuff in there--"

"--Mom, your age is beauty," Victoria Eure said. Liz started laughing.

Eighteen years later and the Eure triplets, as far as anyone knows, are becoming the first triplets to graduate from Ascension Catholic High School. The girls are individually accomplished students. All three are honor graduates, and Victoria finished as Salutatorian. The Chief got to catch-up with the Eure's last week.

It was the day before final exams for Catherine and Whitney. Victoria was already finished. Next year, they will all attend LSU. Whitney and Victoria will room together, and Catherine will room with a friend.

"Whitney got in the honors dorms at LSU--in the nicer dorms," Victoria said. "So I made her pick me as her roommate."

Whitney said that an advantage to being a triplet is that she's never had to do anything alone.

"We've always had someone there that we knew," she said.

"We definitely got a lot of attention, because we were like the only triplets in town, and everyone knew the triplets," Catherine said.

"It was easy, too," Victoria said. "Because in school, Whitney excelled in English, and I was terrible at it. I could just get her to help me. And if like, Catherine was good in math, it worked. We were like built-in tutors."

On the downside, the triplets discussed that sometimes it is hard for people to see them as individuals.

"We kind of get grouped together a lot," Whitney said. "Like we're just the triplets or the Eure's."

"When they started school, I told the principal not to call them the triplets," Liz said. "Call them by their names. She was like, 'Well, good luck with that!'"

"Even in the office when we're tardy and we get a blue slip, they don't even give us our own." Victoria said. "They just give us one."

Going back to the 2000 Chief article, Liz Eure made some early predictions about how the girl's personalities would turn out. She said that they came true.

"Even in the womb, Victoria was the laid back one that didn't move much--"

"--I still don't move much," Victoria said. They all laughed.

"Whitney was in the center and on the sonogram she just kept pushing the other two away," Liz said. "She's still like that. She's like a cat. She only comes around when she wants attention. And Catherine was always poking at Whitney, always right there in her space. She still likes to snuggle and be tucked next to somebody. So it's amazing that you can tell their personalities in the womb."

The Eure's are not just standout students, they are also athletes. Whitney said that they all kind of played the same sports. They played basketball, ran track, cross country, and even played a year of travel volleyball. But track and cross country stuck.

"We've run track and cross country since fifth grade," Catherine said. "We won state for cross country three times, and then track three times."

"We won a few state championships," Victoria said.

"A few," the other two repeated.

Liz brought out Whitney's letter jacket. The girls seemed a little embarrassed, but Liz insisted she wanted to brag on them some. It was covered with patches from championships.

"They're humble," Liz said.

Their graduating class consists of just 38 students at Ascension Catholic. They discussed the main advantage of that was getting to know their class well. The Eure's all plan on going into the medical field, Whitney and Victoria want to become doctors, and Catherine said she wants to become a nurse.

The financial hardship of triplets, according to Liz were similar to having three children.

"If you think about it, it's not really different from anybody else who has three kids," she said. "But I had three prom dresses at one time, three homecoming dresses at one time. It's the same financial burden. It's just not spread as evenly across the board . . . We were a little more financially established than if they were born when I was 18, but it's been a challenge. They were always beauties at the ball."

"Speak for yourself," Victoria said. "My freshman homecoming was tragic. It was sparkly teal. It should've been burned."

Moreover, the girls all share a car.

"It actually hasn't been a problem," Whitney said.

"We were always going the same direction," Liz said. "It just takes longer to get there."

The girls said that although even the cat and dog were also female, that Whitney is like the brother.

"They're really well-rounded kids," Liz said. "They're smart. We've strung 'em to everything, from cajun dancing to French lessons to violin--"

"--She's made us do everything," Whitney said. "Voice lessons, singing--"

"--We've done a lot of things, but we haven't really become proficient in any of it," Victoria said.

"They loved the library," Liz said. "We spent hours in the library when they were kids, and it shows."

At one point, Liz said that she felt gratitude for the community for watching out for the girls when they were growing up. "It takes a village," she said.

Librarian Regina Mistretta recalled the girls when they were babies. "It was those three little heads looking at you in the carriage," she said. "It was too funny! Beautiful little babies!"

It was a pleasure to get to spend some time with the Eure's. Liz went on to show a painting of the girls in their cap and gowns done by artist Alvin Batiste. She was making blankets for the girls at the time out of their old T-shirts.