Shaped by the Past - Part IV

By Christine

My family sure didn’t have as adventurous life as Christian’s!

My father’s grandfather’s name was François, and he was born in 1865 in Gilly sur Loire, from a family of farmers. Francois came to Le Creusot, the nearby booming industrial town, in search of a better life. He was hired at the great forge in 1881, and then transferred to the artillery workshop, producing weapons for the government. He worked there until his death in 1919.

Forge, Le Creusot

My father’s father, Joseph, was born in Le Creusot on November 8^th, 1902. His mother, Elisa, was an orphan. She died from liver cancer on October 18^th, 1914, when Joseph was only twelve. Her terrible sufferings marked him profoundly for ever. He had only one brother, Francis, who was 10 years older than him. Two other children, born in the middle, had died at an early age. So Joseph grew up with his father Francois. His personality wasn’t the happiest one. He thought that a woman’s job was to stay home and that she shouldn’t even read because it was time stolen from the care of the household. He became a metalworker and supervisor at Le Creusot's Schneider’s factory. 

Joseph at the factory

He wasn’t rich, and I remember that my grandparents didn’t have a bathroom in their second floor apartment. You had to go to the outhouse in the garden. Speaking of gardens, he was a very good gardener, and had lots of vegetables, fruit, and flowers. Dahlias were his specialty.

He never had a car, but when he retired, Joseph got a moppet and he would come visit us on it!

He loved fencing and was an incredibly talented handyman. He even built a radio from scratch. I also remember an incredible hair comb he had made from steel, and a beautiful engraved pie serving knife with a horn handle (I still have it). He also loved fishing and was skilled at painting.

I have at least two good memories of my grandfather. For Christmas, he would offer each of the five of us a 5 francs coin that he had polished and made all shiny. He was also excellent at making black currant liquor, from his own bushes of black currant. The treat was that we were always allowed to taste a small glass, even though it was so strong! I loved how it would run warm down your throat!

He had married Lucie on January 20^th, 1925. 

Joseph and Lucie on their wedding day

Lucie had lost her mother too, when she was about 4 years old. Her family was from the north of France, just like General De Gaulle’s mother, who bore the same last name as her. This led me to write to General de Gaulle when I was 9 to tell him that we were from the same family! He answered me and I still have his handwritten note!

Lucie was the baby of eight children. They had moved to  Blanzy, not far from Le Creusot, on a small farm. Her older sisters had very whimsical ways of taking care of her. To calm her when their mother was working in the fields, they would put wine in her bottle! 

Lucie in the center

Very young, she became a housekeeper for a doctor’s family who taught her “good manners.” Then she helped her older sister with her small grocery store. Her sister thought it was time to get her married and arranged her meeting with Joseph. She was a good natured and cheerful person who absolutely loved children. Joseph and Lucie had only two sons, my father, Georges, and Henri. Lucie adored her sons and probably spoiled them a lot, doing everything for them. It was a real heartbreak for her when they got married. When her sisters visited unexpectedly (no phone!), it was always a feast of laughing and fun! She used to quilt heavy blankets to help bring some more money to the household. 

Joseph and Lucie with their two boys

She was the spiritual soul of the family and took her children to church while my grandfather practiced only for great feast days and Bishop’s visits. She would also ride her bicycle everywhere. During the war, she would ride her bike across the line of demarcation to get food to my uncle, Henri, who was at the seminary in free France 40 kilometers away.  She was even searched by the Nazis once. She died at 56. I was not yet 2 when she died, so sadly, I do not remember her.
 

Me in my Grand Mother's arms

Later on my grandfather remarried a woman from Southwestern France, Simone. We all loved her with her singing accent! But Le Creusot was not a cheerful town for her light spirit and she was never happy there.

Even though Joseph had not been a Churchgoer during his youth, he ended his life as a very practicing Catholic and his death in 1971 was a beautiful testimony of faith.