Marie's Hat Went Muddin'

Marie's hats are fun things to wear, model, and laugh with family at picture taking time.
Marie's hats have been worn on a boat, in the garden, in the grocery store the Dollar Store and even in my laundry room. Yup, one day I was feeling silly and saw it sitting on the shelf and put it on and started singing and dancing around.
Marie's hats make you just feel good.
Marie's hats gather attention to you whether you want it or not.
In 2015 one of Marie's crocheted shopping bag hats went muddin' with Fran and Mike, my son who was going to drive and me wearing my Marie Hat.
Muddin' gets in your blood like a drug if you are young enough and want to spend a lot of money buying parts for your mud truck.
The first time I ever went muddin' was in 1990. There were four of us in a front seat of a pickup. One of those people was a D.O.N. who was on call twenty-four seven. She had the newest and the best cell phone that was new on the market. It was a bag phone. So besides four people we had that blasted bag phone bouncing up and down. It was not a little flip phone, it was big!

That was the start of it, but it got in the back seat of my life. Life has a way of getting in the way of fun things it seems. You know working, paying bills, children and all that good stuff.
When my son, Mike, bought his old mud truck Fran watched with interest as he left and came home putting dollar after dollar down a rat hole to hear Fran talk. One day I reminded him that he used to race cars for fun and by the way, wasn't that expensive. Ahem. I got my point across. Some time after that Fran and Mike would go to the scrap yards for parts. Fran and Mike would "fix" said Mud truck.
Fran and Mike would go muddin' and have a ball. A friend has a huge farm and big ponds. They have tractors to pull a driver out if they get stuck in the middle of the pond. They have a grill and have hamburgers and hot dogs. People bring their own food too. Folks set up gazebo tents, coolers with beer and sodas and a variety of things that grown ups and children alike can sample.
I had M.S. I couldn't go. The heat made me faint. It spoiled my fun for many years. One Sunday it was beautiful and Mike asked me if I wanted to go. Heck, yes I wanted to go. So cane in hand, Marie's hat on my head (washable you know) I was anxious to do it!
I'm posting a picture of me wearing her hat, Mike, and his truck, a tad muddy; note the top of my cane in hand.
The last thing that happened to make my day that I will probably remember forever was a little four year old girl that said, " Look, mama, that grandma went muddin' and she needs a ladder to help her get out of the truck." And that I did.
After my fun I sat in the shade under one of the tent gazebos and the ladies all asked me where I got such a neat hat.

Of course, I had to get Marie involved because she would think it was great. That she did!.

Another Great Granddaughter's Story

I showed Marie a picture of her carrying wood yesterday afternoon. She knows that I put pictures on the internet. She also enjoys knowing that her family loves her and loves the pictures.
The picture triggered a memory to Marie that I couldn't comprehend. I could see on her face that she wanted to tell me what she was thinking. I sat down on her cedar chest beside her with my dry erase board and the story began. But with her fingers only telling me in a whisper, "Chuck's daughter, "Saundra."
She showed me with her fingers over and over like her fingers were "walking" only really fast like they were running. Over and over she went. She stopped and looked out the window. She does this now when she is thinking.
She looked back at me like tell me more.
I smiled and wrote to her that she was a beauty operator. Again her fingers went wild through and under and over her hair over and over. From this I had a feeling that Cassie like to play with hair.
I sent a message to Cassie last night telling her about what Marie had done.
This is a quote from Cassie along with permission to publish this little story.
"I was always playing with hair, whether it be hers or my dolls. She always told me I was going to be a beautician. She wanted me to keep her old home hood hair dryer that hooked to the table. I swore I'd never use it. I wish I would have kept it. I was very close to Me'me. Tell her hello and I love her."
So I did.

She Made It In A Week

I have been taking care of Marie Aubin Lizotte since November of 2017.
She amazes me every day. She goes from bright and alert to knocking on death's door to bright and alert again. She is one hundred two years old, soon to be one hundred three in July.
Marie is known for her ability to grow flowers, state her opinions and her handwork. Today's story is about one of her creations.

Marie 102 Years

This week on her good days, Marie seemed to me to be in a cleaning frenzy. Cleaning the top of her cedar chest has never been a priority for her. Her papers and magazines plus needed "stuff" accumulates through the years.
She saves every card and letter that she receives in the mail. It may seem silly, but when you are alone your loved ones'
correspondence is like reaching out and living their life with them.

Rhonda Mason
Granddaughter

One day about two weeks ago she told me a "story" about a dress that she made that was similar to a dress that she had seen in a store. The dress was crocheted. She admired that dress and to anyone that saw her they would think that she was just touching and feeling and checking out the quality of the dress. Not so. She was counting stitches like her mother taught her to do. I just found that tidbit out this week from one of her niece's comments about her grandmother telling her to buy something she liked, don't take the tags off then take it to her and she would recreate it; clever.
This morning she directed her son to open her cedar chest that has been sitting by her chair as long as I have known her. We cleared off the remaining things, and to our surprise there lay on top of her prized possessions, was the crocheted dress.
Marie is a fan of the internet ever since I started writing a blog about her life. She pointed to my phone. She wanted me to put a picture of it on the computer. She calls it that "thing." So I draped her melon colored dress over her clothes and Fran, her son, snapped some pictures.
Here is her prized creation after her death August 30, 2018 being modeled by her granddaughter, Rhonda Mason. Life goes on....

Marie Roseanna Antil Aubin

These pictures of Marie's mother show the young and the elderly woman. They show beauty and seasoned elegance.
This lady had thirteen pregnancies. She had a son that died at the age of four and a son that died at the age of six months.
I asked the group of her family one day when I showed her wearing an outrageously funny cowboy hat if she was always a fun lady. The responses were most surprising.
These were the comments from some of the fifty-six members of her daughter, Marie's Facebook closed group:
"She was a fabulous woman."
"Always"
"We used to pick strawberries and blueberries from her bushes in the backyard." A grandson added that they grape vines in their back yard and when the grapes were ripe we picked them. The bushes were so tall you could walk underneath and pick them standing up.

"Yes, I remember on Sundays when the family got together at Meme's she would get out her huge jar of pennies and have us kids sit all around the kitchen table. She taught us how to play "pass the card" and let us entertain our selves while the grownups conversed."
Another person said, "She would teach us all how to play Scat card game."
"She used to enjoy knitting, having family over on Sunday's, Families would gather and kids would play in the yard. She loved to play Skat or Crazy 8's."
Another said "In the summer when school was out, she would take care of a lot of us while our parents worked. After lunch she would watch her stories (soap operas) and knit mittens for the grand children, or crochet afghans and if you wanted to learn she would patiently teach us. I learned both from her."
A granddaughter said, "My mom and dad would go to Canada and New York to see her sisters, the nuns, and spend a week in the convent with them and Me'Me would take care of us. She knew I loved sewing and would teach me and we would make aprons, pot holders, just little things, but I loved the times I spent with her.
Another granddaughter told us that Meme was so talented, she always told me if I found something I liked which was knitted or crocheted to buy it but leave the tag on it so she could recreate it. She did! I wish I had learned from her. She made braided rugs, knit, crochet, quilted and had beautiful flower gardens. She was a great cook. We were so lucky to have her for so many years."
The story I got from her daughter, Marie Aubin Lizotte at the age of 102 is that she and her husband, Joseph went to the same Catholic church and sang in the choir; the romance blossomed from a seed of faith.
Roseanne, as a lot of people called her, was born in Fitchburg, Ma. June 30, 1892. She died at the age of 93 years.
Her children's names were: Raymond,  (died at age 4) Marie, George, Robert, Hector, Antionette, Theresa, Joseph Jr., Jeanne, Francis( died at 6 months) Charles, Lucy, and Pauline.
In 1986 she had 50 grand children, 105 great grand children and 1 great great grandchild.
I felt that this memory of our Marie's mother was important to document for all of her future generations.
Always a memory maker, it seems, enjoy them for always.

No Water For Three Years

Marie continues to amaze me with her long term memory. Today she told me a partial story about not having water in Westminster for three years. Fran did tell me he didn't know if in fact it was that long, but I'm sure to Marie it did seem that long even if was not.
 I asked her about where she did her laundry and she told me she had to take it to her parents house and they had to go into town twice a week to get drinking water. They weren't the only ones without water and that there was a shortage of water at that time.

Picture of her three boys
and her daughter also, Marie

Marie told me that the "boys" dug a new well when I asked her how much a new well cost in those days. I assumed it was her brothers, but Fran told me that in fact it was his brothers Roland, Roger and him that dug the new well three foot cylinders at a time until they hit water. Marie told me then the pipes froze and Fran verified that, so they in the end ended up with two wells.
She just shook her head and said over and over again how hard it was without water just to drink. Marie's baking for festivals and other charities were made very difficult because of the need for water not only for the making of the breads, and other goodies, but for the cleanup as well.
Marie again shook her head and told me how she melted bucket after bucket of snow to only gain an inch or two of water.
At work one day someone let the faucet run and she yelled at them and said, "shut that thing off, don't you know how precious water is?"
How many times do we let the water run when we brush our teeth or do dishes etc.
How fortunate for her that she had three strong boys to not only dig the well, but save hundreds of dollars at the same time.
This story is a short one, but a treasure.  It was whispered to me because Marie seldom talks anymore, but makes her wants and needs known by whispers and hand gestures.
She told her granddaughter this last weekend that she was the photographer of this photo. She said she just put them all on the kitchen table and took their picture. Another treasure.

She Helps Special Needs Children

I had the opportunity to visit with Gina this afternoon for the very first time.
She is Marie's granddaughter whose mother is Marie often referred to as Little Marie.

Reva and Takkisha

Since I had never met or visited with her before, I pretty much interviewed her like Lois Lane!

 Polly, Penny, Mom, and Gina

Reva Gina and Takkisha

I saw on Facebook that she had passed her test, but I had no clue what the license was for. She is now licensed to drive vehicles that have special needs children as riders to their school. That includes wheel chair students, non-verbal, autistic, and a variety of other special needs that need special transportation. Gina said that she had special training in wheel chair transportation safety. She also told me that she had driven a school bus for six years.
Gina loves her family of two daughters and two grandsons, in fact she has one daughter and grandson live with her at this time.

Takkisha and Ezra

Gina drives a similar van 

Of course, she loves her grandmother, Marie Lizotte who taught her how to crochet and knit at a young age. Her grandmother made her wedding gown and veil that she wore proudly years ago.
Gina told me that she loves to read Harry Potter books and has every movie also. After the first one she read she was hooked!

She Loves Being A Den Mother

Samantha is many things to many people. She is a wife, a sister, but most of all she is a mom.
Samantha has three children, Kenneth, Khristina, and Brandon.
Samantha has been a den mother for three years and she says she just loves it. This is a picture of an injured Brandon putting flags out at the cemetery for Veterans.

She loves music, and always wanted to play the drums.Sheloves to drive fast. Samantha says her husband calls her Danica (Nascar) and that her mother used to be a stock car racer. Who knew about the Lizotte family? They all felt the need for speed.
Samantha has held a job as a residential house manager for developmentally delayed adults and she loves it.
She told me that when she was in high school she wanted to be a welder, but her mom said no, not for girls. She went into medical studies instead which has helped her to take care of others as well as her mother who lives with Samantha and her family.

Brother, Roland Jr.

Her son Kenneth has been in the Army for four years and is now retiring with a medical honorable discharge. Her daughter, Khristina graduated in 2017 from Auto Body Mechanics at the very same high school that she attended, Monty Tech. She is currently working at Cumberland farms and will be going to CNA classes in the summer.

Melissa, Fran, Samantha
Marie Lizotte
Day of Roland St. Funeral

She holds family very dear to her heart past and present. She has mentioned to me a time or two about her grandfather, pe'pe making them rootbeer floats when they were children. She loves her brother and sisters and also her late father, Roland Lizotte. She and her sister, Melissa flew to Missouri to attend his funeral.

Fun with cousins

sisters and their mom

 I read a note that said that she had not seen her brother for over thirty years and cried when she saw his picture on facebook. There are many negative things said about social media, but there are also many wonderful things about it also like connecting with family and friends.

Kenneth in Uniform

Marie and her granddaughters

I got a kick out of Samantha when she said that she loved to bake anything sweet. True Lizotte! Her grandmother, Marie and Uncle Fran love anything that is sweet. They would love it if she lived closer they would enjoy the freshly made goodies.

Altogether it sounds to me like Samantha and her family would be a good family to call your own.