We are together in Vermont strolling on the hiking trails of the Von Trapp Family domain in Stowe. My mother wants to sell me the idea that wearing a headscarf in her days was such a good thing and to make me laugh puts one on her head. Later on, an old woman coming toward us takes my mother’s hands and speaks to her in German calling her Maria. Then, realizing her mistake, she says: « Of course, she’s dead, what am I thinking? ». Afterwards my mother said: « Come on, I don’t even look like Julie Andrews! »
* Quiproquo means misunderstanding in French. Sorry for cheating on the alphabet!
The 2015 Challenge A to Z is proposed to the French-community of bloggers by Sophie Boudarel of La Gazette des ancêtres
I loved this picture from the moment I saw it when I was very young. Perhaps because I couldn’t believe that this little girl on the right on the photo playing cards with her family could be my mother. My grandparents had rented a cabin in Chertsey in the Lanaudière Region which is about 90 km north of Monteal. The stray hats hanging on the chairs, which were bought by my grandfather at the beginning of the trip, were the big stars of these summer vacations. We see them on all the pictures which are so funny to look at!
For my mother, the happiness of our annual early summer trip to Ogunquit in Southern Maine meant those little pleasures one can expect to find in that lovely coastal village: the sea, the Marginal Way, the Sparhawk oceanfront balcony, the bench under the green fabric awning (now blue!) facing the beach near the Norseman Hotel, her crossword puzzles and her mystery novel. Each and everytime I would leave her to walk the beach, I would ask her: “Are you sure you’re OK? You won’t be bored?” She would burst out laughing and say: “No worries! I have my crossword puzzles!”
My parents, like many couples of their time, had chosen Niagara Falls for their honeymoon which in the mid-fifties was the ultimate destination for honeymooners. If I remember well, my father had been there before and thought it was spectacular. I have found in my mother’s postal cards collection, a huge post card of Niagara Falls with a couple looking as Hollywood movie stars photographed in front of the falls. My father probably asked a stranger to take this picture, the only one in fact from Niagara Falls. All the other pictures were taken on the day of the wedding.
My parents look so happy on this picture… but, still, take a look at my father’s tight fist. And my mother seems so stiff. As their wedding was in mid-May, at 8 o’clock a.m., they probably wished for an early Spring. But it was so cold that morning of 1956 that they even saw some snow flurries in the early hours. In the group picture, all the ladies wore fur tippets and men enjoyed thick winter coats. As for my parents, even if they were truly happy, they were probably just thinking of rushing to the inviting heated reception room.
If I ever learned something from genealogy, it has to be this: No money, no photos! My mother’s family albums show her at all ages while my father’s is almost empty until he was able to buy himself a camera in the 1940’s at about 30 years old. With the money earned from my paperboy (euh… papergirl!) job for La Presse, I was able to buy my first Kodak camera and my photos are all blurry. Even so I am very proud to publish here one of my “masterpieces” in memory of my mother. (I can hear you laugh Mom!).
My mother’s photo albums are full of pictures of her and Jeannine, one of her cousins. Jeannine was her best friend. Even if I have never met her, I know that my mother adored her and found her so funny. After their respective marriages, they lost track of each other but my mother always spoke of her with nostalgia and deep affection. I will never forget that phone call that my mother received in July 1975 announcing her Jeannine’s death. She was shaken up. I thought it was so sad they haven’t seen each other in more than a decade.
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.