My mother is on the right. She was 7.
This is the only picture of Chicago found among my mother’s photo albums. I am sure it’s The Art Institute of Chicago in the background. I can imagine their father kindly asking the bus driver if the children may climb to the upper level so that he can take a picture. It was in 1934 during the World’s Fair – A Century of Progress. For those who know the doll boutique “American Girl” that I have visited in Chicago last fall, I cannot believe the coincidence: the doll called Kitt Kittredge (of 1934!) has the same haircut as my mother’s!
The 2015 Challenge A to Z is proposed to the French-community of bloggers by Sophie Boudarel of La Gazette des ancêtres
Can you believe I’ve seen this picture for the very first time only a few months ago? It was taken in London in November 1987 where my mother went on a vacation trip with my sister. I know for a fact that after a long day of walking and shopping in a foreign city my mother easily gets the giggles once back in the hotel room, but what I found surprising is that picture never found its way on the family refrigerator’s door. A Tourville’s “refrigerator’s door picture” is a picture which is 1) blurry, 2) ridiculous or 3) funny.
Summer vacations at Lac Sainte-Marie in Nominingue are one of the most beautiful memories for our family. From 1968 to 1973, our parents were renting a cabin there for three weeks. In 1971, my mother, who got her first full-time job that year, could not take any time off during the summer. How is it possible to forget the sadness in her eyes, and ours, those Sunday nights when we drove her to the train station? Our father must have been particularly worried because it meant a full week of cooking and taking care of three noisy and hyperactive children!
Aren’t my parents looking lovely on this picture? René and Hélène got engaged on Christmas Day of 1955. Thanks to an 8mm amateur home movie we are able to follow them as they go from one family party to another. First, at my mother’s house, then at Annette’s, my mother’s older sister, and then, at my father’s house. The elegant bright red dress my mother was wearing leads me to believe that this picture must have been taken on New Year’s Day, when they traditionally exchanged gifts. Another question I would have loved and should have asked my mother about.
This picture taken in 1945 at Marguerite-Bourgeoys School in Montreal also tells us a little bit about the history of education in Québec. Do you see how few girls are there on that picture? Only twelve. My mother told us that it was the first time that year that girls were able to attend the 12th grade. She was very proud of it. I cheat a little though, posting a second document also found in my mother’s papers mentioning the names of students appearing on that photo. Who knows, maybe you will recognize the name of a grandmother, mother or aunt?
“So, in the end, no matter what I do, I’ll never get a diploma from you!”. These last years, when my mother got angry because we criticized too much the way she was doing certain things and that she did not agree with us, she summarized it with that sentence. Do I need to tell you that when I found among her papers her high school diploma that she got in 1945 I could not help thinking that we should hang the precious document on the wall? Yes, Mom, you got your diploma. That one and so many others 😉
“Is my hair OK?”. How many times have I heard those words come out of my mother’s mouth? As soon as a camera was ready to immortalize her, I could have bet a fortune that we would hear that question. Coming out of the subway station, should it rain, in a blink of an eye, she would take out a plastic cap from her purse and would say: “Oh! My God, my hair!”. So you can imagine why she never understood why my sister and I loved this picture so much. Have you seen her smile? You look lovely, Mom!
As far as I can remember, my mother was scared, disdainful even of animals. On a Saturday of October 1978, I still don’t know how, my father and I have succeeded in convincing her to adopt a dog. My sister had one for a few days then and my brother was always hanging there, so we wanted to surprise him with a dog. I promised my mother that the dog would sleep in the basement (never went there by the way). His name, Copain, was chosen by my mother. He even slept with them at the foot of their bed!
The French ChallengeAZ will begin in a few hours. Writing, translation and planning for the first two weeks posts have been completed. During next week-end will be done the posts for the last two weeks.