CHAPTER 1
MY GRANDPARENTS: Tell what you remember, or what you've been told, about your grandparents. This should not be an overly long chapter. It is YOUR life story, not the life story of your Grandparents. Probably a few paragraphs or pages will suffice.
Some things that might be included:
- Where were they from?
- What were their occupations, educations, training?
- Were they members of a church?
- What are your childhood memories about them?
- Did they live with you?
I would divide this into two sections:
1. Grandparents on my Father's side.
2. Grandparents on my Mother's side.
3 comments:
I sent this request for info to both Simone and Jack. I hope that they can provide some of the facts.
Mother's Side:
John Denis - Grandfather - two stints in the Navy. I'm guessing WWII and Korea. He worked in the Concord prison where he taught metal fabrication to prisoners. He made a lamp that was on 101. It was brass or copper. He was born in Worcester, Feb 25, I think.
C. Constance - Grandmother - I'm not sure of the spelling of her first name Cloris is what I remember. She was called Connie by her friends. She was a housewife but worked occasionally in the Fish 'n Chip on Hamilton St and Plantation. She attended some post-high school graduate schooling at a girls vocational school. She was proud of this.
Grandma left her home parish of St. Joseph's when she married my grandfather. They were long time members of St. Stephen's in Worcester.
Both wore some false teeth. Seeing teeth in a cup blew my mind as a kid. We visited often when we lived in Worcester. Sometimes I would stop over to my grandmother's after school, especially half days. I loved that.
Both appreciated gardening. There was a small vegetable garden in the back of their three decker. Later, as teenagers and young adults, we would do some of the gardening/landscaping.
I rember playing at Grandma's in the backyard, with the neighbor kids.
Grandpa played golf. He would bring his clubs out to Oxford, where he often played, and we would hit chip shots in the backyard. Good fun.
Father's side:
Ernest - grandfather - worked at Wyman Gordon as an operator of some kind of forging equipment. I remember Pépé being a capable car mechanic as well. He worked on my aunts' cars as well as his own. He also bailed me out of skipping school situation once with a makeshift car repair.
Olivine - grandmother - Mémé - housewife. She was the archetype matriarch. She was the mother of 13. In my recollection, there were 8 to 10 adult children around in my lifetime but no matter the number, everyone congreated at 34 Dell Ave. in Worcester.
Both were members of St Joseph's parish on Hamilton St. in Worcester. I think there was a connection to Gardener for Mémé in her youth. We certainly maintained ties with Gardener throughout our lives as my Aunt Connie and Uncle Alec lived there.
While living in Worcester, I played up at the field across from their house often. I played in the swamp down the hill and with the kids in that neighborhood. We played baseball, street hockey, whatever. I got poison ivy there, too.
I especially remember their 50th wedding anniversary. It was a big yard party with lots of preparation and big fun. I remember playing pickle and catch with my cousins in the yard, which seemed huge at the time.
They kept a nice tidy house. It was always light, airy, friendly. I would sneak in and use the bathroom upstairs when I was playing ball. There were always flowers and fruit around. I also remember seeing my various cousins there, especially Linda Hamel, and Kathy and Jolene Langlois and thinking they were so cool and pretty.
Moving to Oxford put an end to a lot of this for me. I was bumming about it at first.
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