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.