Marie's Beloved Cedar Chest

Marie has been very ill the last few weeks, so I was absolutely delighted this morning when she was bright and alert. She told me a story I had not heard before and in great detail.
Marie is a person that likes things just so and do not change things, please. Her chair sits just inches from her cedar chest. The cedar chest is parallel to the window. Marie can look out her window and reach a  multitude of important things that sit on top of an afghan that covers her cedar chest.
Not long ago I told my husband that Heaven help the poor souls that ever have to move that cedar chest because several times a week I ask her where this or that is and she answers, "in the cedar chest."
She also tells stories and then adds, "I have that program or that knick-knack in the cedar chest."
Over the years I have taken for granted that the cedar chest was a private haven of memories for Marie.
This morning I asked her where she got her cedar chest. The story began....
"I was born and raised in Fitchburg, Massachusetts and that's where I bought my cedar chest." I asked many questions and got great answers. Her father did not know she was going to buy the chest. She spent her whole paycheck on it; $25.00. I asked her if her mother went with her. She said, "No my sister did." I am printing her answers like she gave them to me in simple few word sentences.
I asked, "did the store deliver it"" She chuckled and said, "No." So silly me said, "did you have a car?" She said, "no, we didn't have a car until I was 20." So I said, "How did you get it home?"
Marie told me that after she had picked out her chest, the sales clerk said, "You go home and get your money and come back in half an hour and you can take it home."
She and her sister took a wagon that belonged to her father and went down the hill to the furniture store and loaded it up and took it home. Her father was not happy that he didn't get her money that week. He could not understand why she needed it. She told him that she had made so many things that her dresser drawers were all full.
I have mentioned before that she had cousins that were very jealous of what Marie made and possessions that she had. As soon as they found out that Marie had a cedar chest the rumor mill started flying. They wanted to know who gave that cedar chest to Marie and now she really thought she was something.
Finally Marie's mother stepped in and told them no one had given her that cedar chest. She had worked for the money and bought it with her own hard earned money. She did not want to hear another word about it.
I was so pleased when Marie told me that. As the oldest living child, a lot of responsibility was put on her shoulders. Even though she lived a life many of us would not put up with in this day and age, she told me that it made her tough and prepared her for what her life away from home brought to pass.
An interesting note: Marie's $25,00 in 1938 now has the buying power of $427.99 in 2018.
I cannot believe I didn't take a picture of the cedar chest. When you see the pictures someone is always sitting on it. That's why I show the two pictures in this post. Marie always had it covered with two afghans to keep it safe.
March 2019 Tina Lizotte, Marie's granddaughter took Marie's cedar chest to Texas to remain in the family. In the cedar chest I made sure that the original tags were still inside.

She Got Found Out!

This is a short story that I want Marie's younger family to read. Marie's father was very strict. Although she loved him, it was often impossible to follow his rules.
One day Marie was downtown and met her cousin and her cousin's fiance. She introduced him to Marie and they shook hands. Marie wished them well and they visited a bit. She did her errands and went home. One thing you have to understand is that Marie was an adult, but living at home at this time.
When she got home her father slapped her hard across the face. She had no clue why and said, "Why did you do that this time?" That is a direct quote from Marie. She has told me this story many many times. Her father said, "because you kissed a man on the street for everyone to see." Marie explained that this was not correct and that she had only shook his hand when her cousin introduced them.
She had other cousins that did not like Marie for reasons known only to themselves. They had told her father that she had kissed this man downtown. The words, "this time" pretty much tell the story, I think. Marie has told me this sotry many many times. and the telling is always the same. The reason I am telling this story is that I think it is so important to understand tht being a parent is such an important job that you are given. That the impact of how you do that job remains
in the memory of a one hundred two year old woman. Marie was so angry that she, like her sister before her planned to run away from home. She had a job, but no car. She didn't care. She was getting out of that house! She packed her bag careful not to pack much and climbed out the window. I'm sure the sense of freedom was sweet. However, the neighbors saw what she was doing and called her father. The story didn't end well. She never told me the punishment she received and I didn't ask.
Marie had suitors that were all turned away by her father. He had an excuse for all of them. Marie told me that it was an excuse to keep her home to help with the children. But for the most part her paycheck.
Things in the twenties and thirties in her family household were not so different than they are in many households today so sad, but true.
One day Marie and her father had attended a social function and those cousins that had told the lie about her kissing that man were laughing about it. They were giggling and saying how fun it had been to pull pranks on her. Her father heard these girls talking and laughing. He said nothing, but in the future he made it so that they were excluded from some of the family traditions of gift giving and hope chest additions for their own future marriages. Marie did not tell me that her father apologized, however. Just in my opinion exclusion was not enough punishment. I'm glad I did not live in that era.

Marie's Sister, Lucy

Lucy Helen Larcenaire

Charlie, Lucy, Pauline
Lucy's husband Moe

Marie has told me a lot about Lucy because she was the baby that you see Marie holding in the Aubin portrait. I didn't think that Marie had a picture of Lucy when she was a grown up and I just couldn't believe it. One day I was dusting her electric organ that sits behind her easy chair. Propped on it was a picture of her granddaughter, great granddaughter and two great great grandsons. I picked it up, dusted it, set it down, moved to the next picture and picked it up. I though, "I've never seen this before." I looked and looked at it and I showed it to Fran. He said, "Well that's Charlie and Aunt Pauline. I believe that's Aunt Lucy and her husband." I wasn't satisfied with, "I believe." So I sent a copy of this picture to Charlie and he verified that it was indeed, Lucy. So then I showed it to Marie and pointed to Lucy's picture and asked her who it was. She whispered, "Lucy." I could have cried. I should have asked her first. I should have noticed the picture. My excuse is, I don't have one.
On to the story. When Lucy was born, Marie was working. In those days a father could go to his daughter's boss and announce that she would be gone two weeks because her mother was going to have a baby. Marie would be needed at home. Imagine that. Well there were problems, so Marie was needed at home for three weeks and again she was able to keep her job.
An interesting footnote is that Marie was never allowed to bathe the "boy babies" just the girls. Marie packed school lunches, did laundry, cleaning and lots and lots of baking and cooking. Since her mother's recovery was slow, Marie also did the majority of the care for the new baby.
I talked to Lucy's daughter and she gave me some fun facts about her mother. When June, Lucy's daughter was twenty years old, she taught herself how to quilt. She loved it. She got good at it and decided to give lessons. She invited her mother to her first class. June said that was the start of many beautiful quilts that Lucy made.
The following is a beautiful write up that June sent me for you all to enjoy reading:
"From as early as I can remember, my mom knew how to do almost anything. She sewed all of our clothes and taught us how to sew as soon as we could reach the sewing machine pedal. When we were toddlers, she actually took apart her wool coats to make our snow suits. She always made us beautiful dresses and coats with matching hats for Easter and other occasions. There wasn't anything she couldn't make. She also made beautiful coats, shirts, and pants for my dad.
She planted and worked big gardens in our yard to help feed our family and to teach us a valuable life lesson too. She canned and preserved anything she could.
She loved leather work and made my dad beautiful wallets and belts with beautiful pictures on them. I remember baking with her for an entire day at a time. We would separate and freeze all kinds of cookies and treats to be taken out and enjoyed later.
Mom was always the one to handle the budget and financial matters as well. She pinched pennies and made their money last into retirement. This was amazing since my dad retired pretty early. Mom stayed home with us kids until I was in high school. Then she went to work at Modern Tool and Die. There she was the equivalent of an Accountant and she also managed the office. She was so good at numbers that she actually showed the accountants new ways to do things. It was great for her to see how smart she was. Something moms are not always told enough of.
In her later years when her health issues became so great. she really enjoyed staying in touch with her surviving siblings. She was proud to talk to me about them. She was so proud of Aunt Marie turning 100."
Now I will add that I did in fact, get to talk to Lucy on the phone about the time that Marie was celebrating her 100th birthday. When I told Marie that she had called and had sent her best wishes, Marie was so pleased. Of course, Marie started telling me stories. For me that day was a memory maker.




  

She Made A Deal

As many of you know a lot of American citizens arrived in New York City and went through the Ellis Island customs. Many of these folks settled in New York City and other eastern states and cities.
Marie's ancestors came from Canada. They were considered French by others and lived in a prevalent French neighborhood.
There were different neighborhoods of different ethnics. Marie mad many friends as she grew older. One of her friends was Italian. They had a good time together and even taught each other how to speak some of each other's language. At this point in their life (teenager to young adult) they spoke English.
One day her Italian friend asked her why she had to get up so early in the morning before she went to work.
Marie explained that since she was from a very large family she had to help her mother with many things one of which was baking bread. Her friend was astonished with the amount of bread that Marie made every other day for her mother before she left the house to go to work. As young girls do, they spent time chatting and visiting each other's homes. Marie became friends with her young friend's mother as well. One day Marie was invited to her friend's house for her evening meal. Marie had taken a loaf of bread as a gift for their dinner. They had spaghetti. She had never had spaghetti before and she just loved it. Knowing Marie as I do, I wasn't surprised when she told me that she asked her friend's mother for the recipe. Her friend's mother just smiled slyly and told her that she would give her the recipe for the spaghetti if she would give her the recipe for her bread. The condition was that she had to show her how to do it as well. Marie made the deal.
She mad spaghetti for her family to a mediocre reception. Her father, as well as others ate it, but were not excited about the addition to their menu. Well neither was Marie! There was something missing. You guessed it; oregano. I hear this on television for the missing ingredient for spaghetti and I just smirk to myself thing, Marie could tell them.
As Marie started expanding her interests including new friends she made other deals with folks ie.; You show me and I'll show you.
As I was sitting here writing this story for Marie this morning I got to wondering about the different ethnic neighborhoods and how they were treated. so I Googled it. Oh my goodness. Irish, Italian and French and many other ethnic folks were all treated poorly because of the fear of losing their jobs by the Americans.
Our Marie lived in a very extraordinary part of history in the United States of America.

  

Marie's Father Took Care Of Business

As you go through Marie's posts you are finding a common thread of "eat or be eaten" to put it bluntly. You had to be tough in a large family. She had a father who was a dominant disciplinarian and she was the oldest child.
She was educated only because the law insisted on it. She worked hard at home and away from home. Her parents took her wages except for one dollar a week. Work wasn't always something that she looked forward to. This is a story I have heard many times.
When Marie worked in a pants factory there was a young  man that in our times would be accused and convicted of sexual harassment. She complained about his flirting and sexual advances to no avail. One day he came up behind her and whispered something to her that was off color. It startled her and she whirled around and in so doing, she hit him as she said, "in a place that hurt him." She was called into the office and was told that she couldn't do that to a man. She told her supervisor that it wasn't right that he kept after her for dates and wouldn't take no for answer. She told her supervisor that she didn't mean to hit him. It had been an accident.
The supervisor did a very wise thing. He transferred him to the basement to work in shipping. It wasn't long before they discovered that he was stealing trousers and selling them on his own. He was not only fired but he was blackballed from working in the industry.
Marie told her parents about it. This time her father believed her, but did nothing about it until, the young man decided that he would go to Marie's house and take her out without asking her first. Her father answered the door with a gun in his hand. Marie never had to worry about that young man again.
Interesting how things were handled eighty or so years ago without a single shot being fired.

Marie's Sister, Theresa

There are many many aunts and nieces that are very close. In my opinion, I think that the examples that aunts set are about as important as their mother's in some cases.
I am guilty of saying that distance created that gap between my nieces and I. However, there are aunts and nieces that live a long ways apart and still manage to spend quality time with each other. This is the case with Marie's sister, Theresa and their niece, Jeannine.
The picture of Marie's sister, Theresa is to the left with her husband celebrating Christmas with their red sweater and and shirt on. If Jeannine had dark hair like her aunt, they would be dead ringers for each other. Jeannine told me that she would stay with her Aunt Theresa during the summers and Theresa would stay with Jeannine at times after Jeannine was married. She taught her niece to can vegetables and bake bread. I have a feeling that they did a lot of chatting along the way. How much fun they must have had.
I would very  much love to have more pictures. This is the only picture of Theresa that I have.
March 2019. I did find more pictures of Theresa in Marie's Generation Book which I posted on her closed group.

As Paul Harvey Used To Say.......

This is the rest of the story. The story was finished by Marie yesterday out of the clear blue. I was telling her again that I was writing her story over in the corner where my chair is at her house. My computer and I Pad that she enjoys looking at is on what she calls "the bench" or the breakfast bar that separates the kitchen from the living room. She has been looking at the pictures and reading the stories for years. I asked her yesterday where she and her husband went on their honeymoon. I knew where they had gone. I knew that she didn't want to go to Canada, but I didn't understand why they went somewhere on their special day if they didn't want to go there.
This is the rest of the story:
"You have to understand that my family was very close." She has said that many times before, but I thought she meant warm feeling close. No she mean, (you do what your elders say, close).
Her grandmother, Julia Antil insisted that they go to  Canada because she had a nephew that lived there and she wanted them to go and stay with them. Marie said that her grandmother was not someone to argue with so they went to Canada. The selling point on this trip was that they could stay with her grandmother's nephew while they were there and wouldn't have to buy groceries or rent a hotel room. Marie gave me a wry smile and said, "That was not the way it was." She told me that in 1940 the stores close at an early hour and if you didn't have something that you wanted, you were out of luck.
 When they got to Canada her grandmother's nephew told them they had only an hour to go do their grocery shopping before the store close. That was their first clue that their honeymoon was not going to be free. Marie told me that they went to the Botanical Gardens and that it was just about it for sightseeing. 
While they were there their car broke down and it had to be pushed quite a distance. The relative told that they needed to take their car to his cousin and he would fix it because he was a mechanic. It was not a "free fix" either.
When Marie was finished telling me this story about the week long honeymoon that was not any fun she started telling me about her grandfather being the Fire Department Chief. I have posted his picture in another post.
You need to remember that Marie was 102 years old when she was telling me this story so if all the facts are exactly accurate who cares.I don't think her relatives will. This is a story of feelings in my estimation, not accuracy of facts.
Marie is probably about 101 years old holding her blog book which she was so very proud of. She kept track of my additional stories to make sure they were right.

Marie's Second Son, Francis

Marie has told me the story of Francis's birth many many times. It is a fun beginning. It seems that Marie and her father were in the grocery store shopping. It became very apparent that the baby she was carring was going to be born sooner than later. As you are aware, Marie's father had gone through this many times with his own wife. He asked Marie if she had any pain. She said, "No". They continued to do their grocery shopping. The store was owned by an old Italian lady that kept saying, "Mama Mia the bambino, it's going to come in my store!"
It seemed that Marie's mother kept telling her that she should name the baby Victor because of Victory Day signifying the end of WW11. This time, Marie held her own and named him Francis Joseph Lizotte. Francis was called Francis, Frannie and most commonly, Fran.
Marie calls him "My Frannie, when he does what she wants hhim to and gives me a very pointed look.
Fran had a little band with guitars and drums. When Marie tells the story of this little combo she says the neighbors thought that the Beatles had come to town because his group sang Beatles songs.
Fran and his brother, Roger, were shade tree mechanics and fixed and tore apart twenty-five dollar cars. They wrecked them and raced them and borrowed each others cars and had a good time.

At one time, Fran had a race car #52, He stopped racing, but you get to keep your number for life. His son, Robert asked if he could have his number. Of course, he gave it to him. We have a model car that looked similar to the race car.
Fran and his wife, Donna, moved to Texas with their six children. They bought a few acres and lived in a huge tent. They used an outdoor shower with sun warmed water. Although this was an adventure it was also a challenge I'm sure.
Fran made his living in a few different ways. He helped with construction and did body mechanics on vehicles for years.
He once fixed a squeaky cupboard door for me with Pam cooking spray. It has been "non-squeaky" for years.

Fran 

Fran loves to sing and even though there has been bumps in his road, he uses music to keep his mind peaceful and on an even keel. Karaoke had been his hobby for many years. He enjoys singing and entertaining. Music doesn't have to be perfect. Music can be therapeutic in bad times as well as fun in good timmes. Music at our house is a group entertainment. Fran usually talks our visitors into singing and they end up having a really good time.
His mother's family had some folks that were musical. Fran's nephew is an excellent singer and guitar player. Fran's son can do one impression of Stevie Wonder complete with sun glasses.
When Marie's granddaughter visited the musical talent was there with her and her daughter as well. Rhonda and her two daughters visited a few years ago. The girls taught people at the club how to do a dance that was popular in Texas. The folks loved it. I can remember being in the computer room listening to Fran sing. Thinking how lucky I was to have a contented husband that filled my world with music.

Old Fitchburg, Ma. Newspaper Articles

This morning I was doing the sorting and pitching thing. I found a small bundle of saved newspaper clippings that Marie had saved. She did have a sense of humor. I am going to parpaphrase a letter to the editor from the police department of Fitchburg in the the early 90's.
[A police officer stopped a cab driver after he ran a stop sign. The officer said "why didn't you stop at the stop sign back there?" The cab driver said, "Well, I couldn't. I was going 90 miles an hour." ] The actual article said that the officer reported to the council that it was a usual day on the force.

She Was A Looper

One day Marie was telling me stories and she was telling me that she was so glad to get promoted to using a sewing machine at the Asher Pant factory that she worked for. So of course, I asked, "Well what did you sew if you didn't use a sewing machine? She told me that she was a looper. I'm sure I gave her a blank look and said, "You were a what?" And she not so patiently said again. "A looper." Well, you see I was born in 1944 and she was already twenty-nine by then. I had no idea what kind of jobs there were in clothing facotries. She had told me that she worked at a men's trouser factory, but had never told me what she had done.

A picture of tiny belt loops 

Finally it dawned on me that she actually made loops. She gave me a look that said, "Finally she got it." I cannot even imagine tediously making belt loops for men's trousers day after day. These jobs were not plentiful. People were waiting for factory jobs in those days. They were very grateful when they were hired. The picture is from the internet.
3/24/19
Just an extra note I found patterns for both looping and pocket making from those days after she had passed.

But She Didn't Want To!

This is a story I have heard countless number of times, but I forgot   about it until I saw this commercial spool of thread on her bureau. It has been there for as long as I can remember.
This is a story about a young girl who just "didn't get it."
Her father insisted that she learn how to tat. She just didn't catch on to it at all and did not want to learn how. She told me that she figured that sewing, crocheting and knitting was plenty of handwork to do.
Her father was strong willed however, and told her that yes, she would learn how. I was never told why he insisted, but he did. Marie told me that he brought home a huge spool of thread and made her practice and practice. It did not come easy for her.
She had to stop and start many times and for quite some length of time before it finally registered in her mind how to tat successfully.
My mother tatted and I would watch her as she watched television and did her tatting, crocheting and knitting. The whole handwork hobby never registered in my mind. It made me very nervous, therefore, I was a complete flop. My eight year old niece learned at my mother's side in a flash. She does excellent work.
I have a handkerchief that is beautiful that I received as a gift when I was sixteen. It is in a drawer and will probably be thrown out when I'm gone.
Marie does not have any handkerchiefs or any other tatted handwork that she made.
She did tell me though, that she sold some handkerchiefs for about twenty-five cents a piece. In my estimation they were worth many times what she sold them for. In the ten years that I have known her, she never did any tatting.
The value of tatting, in my mind is invaluable. The skill and time it takes to make these beautiful things in itself, makes them valuable. My mother had a set of sheets and pillowcases that were tatted around the edges and were beautiful. No they were never used and were given to my sister when she married.
I also remember Elizabeth Taylor wearing a tatted choker in one of her movies.
I copied these pictures of trimmed sheets and a handkerchief from the internet.
A note I mentioned Elizabeth Taylor it showed Marilyn Monroe with those choker necklaces also.
If any of you readers should happen to have anything that Marie tatted please send me a picture. I would love to put them on here instead of the internet one. Thank you so much.
I decided that I would put this 50 year old handkerchief that I received from my great aunt at my piano recital when I was sixteen years old on this post. It is now residing in Florida at my nieces's house. So very glad that she wanted to give it a new home. Yes, I ironed it!!

Marie's Brother, George

George and Marie Aubin

This is a picture of George and his wife, Marie. When George was young he worked at a paper mill in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. He had an accident there and cut the tip of his index finger off of his right hand. He picked up his own finger tip because no one else would help him (per his brother, Charlie,) and took it with him to the hospital to have it attached. It was too mangled to be fixed. Well, this being said, he was not able to join the service because that finger was the "trigger finger" so to speak. He tried all different branches of the service, but they all said the same thing. He was not eligible because of the missing tip of his finger. Amazing how an accident can affect your life. Instead of the service he then joined The Green Mountain Camp and fought fires.
I am going to consult with Charles and get the particulars on that camp. It may, indeed, be a very interesting and large part of the war effort.
Jeannine, their daughter, as been visiting with Marie's son Roger and his wife, Virgie. They have been reminiscing of old times. She told me today that Roger can remember visiting them out on the farm. She said they had cows, pigs, and chickens. Her mom was a stay at home mom and raised nine children. Later on she worked at a curtain factory in New Before, Ma.
This part of their life is so very interesting and I think will be for the future generations as well.
Jeannine said that her mother had five sisters born and raised in Canada. Three of the girls were nuns and two of the sister married Jeannine's grandmother's two brother; Joe and Eddie. Jeannine said her mother married Marie's brother George. Her mother didn't come to the United States until she was 26 years old. She was the youngest of the six girls and stayed until her parent died. Then she came to the United States. She met George through her sisters and then they married. I told Jeannine that Marie had tried to tell me their story once and I just couldn't understand. She finally said, "Don't ask, it legal. They were married in a Catholic Church." As well as you all know Marie you must be familiar with the wave of the had of dismissal that I received.
So this man was Jeannine's uncle and her father's uncle at the same time... They lived in New Bedford and was a great hairdresser where he had his own shop. They then moved to Connecticut.
I said once before, this family is so interesting. I had such a small family it is inconceivable to  me to have such a variety and so many relatives.

Marie's Brother Hector

This is a picture of Marie's brother, Hector's family reunion at his son's Kenny's daughter's house. There are a variety of his children, grandchildren and a great grand in this picture. I don't know for sure, but there may be more than one great.
Hector was the sixth of thirteen children. He was born February 28, 1920. He lived in Fitchburg, Ma. all of his life. Hector was a type set printer/set up person for a local pharmaceutical plastic container manufacturer. He also had a home based printing business. He did business letter heads and business cards and at  Christmas time he would print Christmas cards for people. 
I found out something so fun about Hector that I had never heard before. He was a bit of a practical joker. Phyllis, his daughter, told me that during the Beatle craze, he cam home one day with some bottles with labels she was sure that he had printed. They said, "Beatle Breath." She said they thought they were something special They were so gullible and never for a moment thought he would tell them something that wasn't true. All the kids in the neighborhood had a jar and of course, they didn't dare open it as they then would lose their "Beatle Breath." How fun.

He also worked as a cook a couple of nights a week at the Rendezvous Restaurant In Fitchburg. As you can see the Aubin family members enjoyed being busy.
As expected he loved to cook. He made pear preserves from his parents' trees and grape jelly from their grape vines. Like my husband, Francis, Hector did the turkey at Thanksgiving time while the kids and wife did the baking.
He joined the Army and was sent to the Aleution Island in June of 1943. if 1943. On June 10th 1944 he married Elaine Gilbert. She passed away in October of 1969. He passed away on June 10th, 1989, It would have been he and his wife's 45th wedding anniversary if they had both lived.
I remember his brother,, Charlie saying that Hector kept trying to get him to join the Army too. Charlie said, "No way!"

She Climbed A Mountain??

Yes, she did climb a mountain; Mount Wachusett. It straddles Princeton and Westminster, Ma.
She has told me bits and pieces of this story and I didn't write it down like I should have. Today she gave me a name and my husband Francis verified it. Marie, Raymond, Jeanette, Raymond's sister, and Raymond's good friend  Roland, St. Louis, climbed this mountain. Marie told me she was very nervous, but determined ( her word) to do it. They went there the night before and started the climb the next morning. I did a little research on this mountain. It is 2000+ feet Elevation. When you enlarge this photo you can see snow. I don't know when their "quest" was, but most mountains are cool weather wise as well as something " cool" to do.
Marie said that it was a very long day. They had to wear oxygen masks at one point. They were warned to " not over do." It sounded like they may have had a guide that knew exactly how to encourage the tourists.
She smiled at me and you could just see her remembering their adventure.
Marie's brother, Charlie, told me that he also went up the mountain. They all had made many friends that made their climb a fun activity.

A Beautiful Set

I have been taking care of Marie in her home now for almost three months. You would think I would know the ins and outs of her home, but no It seems that every day I find some new thing about her that I had no clue she could do. I knew she was a seamstress and very creative. I knew that she could crochet and knit and sew and make afghans and quilt. However, I didn't know that she made quilts and pillowcases to match. I realized that when I went to make her bed and the underside of the quilt looked familiar. She had made pillow cases to match the underside of the quilt. Of course, she did.
She made one for Francis and his late wife, and explained to me one day that it took her about a year to make it. She said that she had made five of them. They are made of tiny little two inch squares and little bitty stitches. She told me years ago she had been offered a thousand dollars for one and she refused to sell it.
I wish I could remember the name of this quilt. It is like nothing I have ever seen before. She had made the pillowcase on the bias. I am sure she did that to utilize every bit of material she had.
Before I started caring for her she had two of these extremely heavy quilts on her bed. She always told me don't be afraid to wash it. They wash beautifully. True they do, but they are a load for your machine. I'm sure this won't be the last of my "finds". It just goes to show that when you think you know someone you just scratch the surface.
And of course, it was signed and dated on the underside.
I received a message from Marie's nice Kathie. She said this pattern is called the Cathedral Window. Aptly so, I think. A family heirloom.

Marie's First Son

Marie's first son, Roland, had five children; four girls and one son, Roland Jr.
Roland lived with his mother for several years. He was very good to hhis mom and took her shopping to the grocery store and the pharmacy and of course, to Dollar General.
He, like his mother had to wear a hat. You know, now that I mention it his brothers both wear hats too. He had major health problems also and died at a very young age. His children have all had beautiful families and keep in touch with their grandmother.
If Roland would have lived he would be a great grandfather by now. My goodness, what a legacy Marie has left for this world.
I am going to add a little footnote here. The other day I told Rhonda, Fran's daughter, that Marie had refused her lunch and said she was so very sick. I asked her what I could do for her. She shook her head "nothing". I went to the kitchen to get her some cold water, but turned quickly and saw her hide a little bag of Cheetos. It reminded me so much of Roland I had to tell Fran I wished that Roland was alive. I would apologize to him. Fran asked me why. I told him I used to get
irritated with him when he complained about his mother eating all of his snacks. (He paid the grocery bill.) I had taken a little bowl of Cheetos into Marie the other day and she took the whole big bowl I had in my other hand. All of a sudden I realized that when you want a snack you get upset when somebody steals them even if it's your mother or mother-in-law. Got to love her.
March 2019: It was Roland she cried for when she was terribly ill. She saved his bronze shoes, his first communion book, his everything. A mother's love.

Marie's Sister Pauline

Good morning, this is a lady I know very little about except that she loves her sister, Marie. When Marie was discharged from the center after she broke her hip she came to our house to live for three months.
The family was in an upset at that time because their brother, Charlie was dangerously ill and in the hospital. Pauline would call if not every day or every other day to give Marie updates on his condition. At this particular time we were not allowed to call the facility and talk to him so Nancy, Charlie's wife would tell Pauline his condition and then Pauline would call us. I'm sure that she called other family members too, but I will always remember when Marie wanted to go home I talked to Pauline and told her I felt that we had become friends and would miss our visits. Marie's hearing impairment made it difficult to actually visit on the phone. Pauline would "talk" to Pauline by just talking to her and saying what she wanted to tell her.  Then I would take the phone and Pauline would tell me more news then I would translate it to Marie.
I told her I would miss our visits when Marie had moved back to her own home.
There are only a couple of things that Marie has told me about Pauline that I can remember. One was when it was approaching time for Pauline to marry, Marie and her mother and I'm sorry but I don't remember who the other ladies were
quilted a quilt for her. They put her name and year on the bottom of the quilt on the under side. Marie always said that Pauline and her daughter, Kathy were quilters. Oops, Marie led me astray. Kathie is the quilter and gave her mom a boost in that direction by getting her lessons. She enjoyed it and then she too, started quilting. I believe not until she retired at sixty-five years of age.
The other thing Marie told me was that Pauline was a smart lady and had worked at a very good job. At this time her daughter, Kathie did tell me that Pauline had celebrated her 89th birthday in December of 2017.
Now about that Aubin portrait....Marie's niece, Jeannine and I were talking about who the little girl was that had the attitude and would not look at the photographer. We have strong suspicions that it may have been Pauline. It would be so much fun if it was. The reason being is that I have never heard a story about her being naughty at all. Mercy, we all have to be naughty some time or another, don't we?
I hope when Kathie and Pauline read this, that they can fill in some blanks and tell us about her life when she was still in the Aubin home as well as her own. I can't wait to hear all about it.

   

Marie's Sister Jeanne

This is a picture of Marie's sister Jeanne and her husband Roland.
Her daughter Karen contacted me by email last night and said that her mom and dad were married in 1946. Count the years 72 years this May I believe she said.
Those of you that know Pauline you may see the resemblance. When I showed this picture that Charlie, their brother had sent me, Marie thought it was Pauline as did I and I have good eyesight.
These folks are still active with various activities if what Marie has told me is accurate. I am still waiting for Karen to fill me in with the details.
They live in Florida and have lived there for many years from what Marie has told me.
Marie also told me when she was looking at this picture that like a lot of the ladies, Jeanne enjoys working with her flowers. I don't  know if that is accurate at this time.
I can't wait to hear from Karen who also has a sister, Leslie, to fill us in with more details on this wonderful couple.
I am going to publish this post like others, until I get more to add to this.
I am hoping that Jeanne can fill us in with details not only about their own lives, but about that Aubin portrait. I am so wanting to know who that little girl is that is not looking at the photographer!!
March 2019: They are still happily married. Conrad no longer drives, but Marie's sister does. She does all of the gardening and takes care of the yard and her husband.

Marie's First Child, A Daughter

One thing I still haven't grown accustomed to is all of the re-use of names. I get so confused. Our Marie's mother's name was Marie Roseanne Julia Antil. However, people called her Roseanne. Then our Marie was named after her mother, then our Marie had a daughter and of course, named her Marie. Do you see how an outsider could get very confused?

Marie's son Chuck and our Marie 

Marie's first child was very tiny when she was born. She was always a small person like her mother. She had children who actually had their own names that I can relate to. Marie was not well for the last several years of her life. In fact she was not able to travel so had not seen her mother for 17 years. When I realized this, I bought this laptop so that she and our Marie could visit via Skype. That way she also got to visit with her brothers, Roger and Francis.
She died shortly after our Marie's 100th birthday.
The group photo shows Chuck and his family at our house for our Marie's 100th birthday. It was so great they traveled from the east coast to help her celebrate.
There is a picture that shows Chuck and his family at Marie's house having a really good visit.
Chuck purchased Marie's house from her when she moved to Missouri. He has done a great job of remodeling it to meet his family's needs.

A Brother Missing In Action

I have heard this story only once and that with some help from Marie's brother, Charlie. So if there are mistakes please bear with me.
Marie told me this story one day before she got so ill. On her good days, Marie could tell one story one right after the other, so that sometimes you had to listen very carefully to discern where one ended and another one began.

Bob, kneeling
Joe to the right

One afternoon when she had come home after being in the center she started telling me about her brother Bob. I had never heard this story before and I was absolutely astonished. Bob was in the Navy and his ship had been shot and lost the rudder and couldn't get a direction. They went around and around in circles for days. They finally were found by another ship. They towed them in to Bar Harbor, Maine. Of course, Marie's family knew nothing of this only that he was missing in action and presumed dead. After much grieving Marie's mother called the priest. He and the family decided on having a funeral for Bob even though he had never been found. As her family and the priest were visiting the door opened and there was her brother, Bob! At this point the details are murky because Charlie was too young to remember and Marie is no longer able to supply any more details. Marie said her mother almost fainted. She could not believe her eyes.
Marie's parents had three sons in the service at the same time. Bob was in the Navy as well as Joe. Joe got tuberculosis while in the service and was ill for a long period of time. Hector was in the Army and was in the Aleutian Islands when Japan attacked. I can't even imagine the worry that Marie's parents went through having their sons in active duty.
When Charlie decided to join the Navy it wasn't war time and Marie told me that her mother was not a bit happy with him because it was not wartime, therefore he had no reason to join the service. As he will tell you, as did his parents, Charlie joining the Navy gave his parents a trip of their dreams to Hawaii that Marie told me about a lot. They had such a good time.

Marie's Son Roger

This post is going to be more a picture album. Roger has two children, Roger and Lynn. As I find or am sent more pictures I will be adding to this post. Roger is sending me more. There are going to be old pictures and new pictures. These top pictures are of Roger and his present wife, Virgie at their wedding. They were married at

Roger Jr. and Lynn

Jaxson
Great grandson

 their home. They had such fun with their friends and many relatives!

This is Brandon

There are many pictures of Roger's children, Lynn and Roger Jr.

Roger Sr.
Lynn

Sabrina
Granddaughter

Lynn and Roger Jr. 

There is a lot more about Roger Sr. in another story.

Marie and Charlie!!

The picture is I believe

of Charlie and Marie on her 94th of 95th birthday. Rhonda knows these pictures/birthdays better than I do. I will be adding more pictures of Charlie and Marie on this post as I go through more photos.

Charles Aubin
Richard Lewis
1967

The picture of the group is Charlie's immediate family which is his cover picture on Facebook. Any member of his family is greatly appreciated to add names in the comment box. Thanks.