My Mother’s Stories – The Memoir Network | RSS

My Mother Passes

Denis Ledoux — Sun, 11 May 2025 14:37:09 +0000

On this blog, I have frequently offered excerpts of my mother’s memoir, We Were Not Spoiled. It has been such a satisfaction for me to have written her story and to have been able to hand her a copy. One day, after I had presented her with the hard copy of We Were Not Spoiled, […]

Becoming an American—Why Not?

Lucille Ledoux — Tue, 15 Dec 2020 11:08:00 +0000

DL— Stories about immigration and citizenship form the backbone of our great American story as much today as in past times. My ancestors were among the millions who came here in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Here is an excerpt about becoming an American from We Were Not Spoiled, the memoir of my mother […]

Uncle Pitou’s Migration to the US and Robert Is Born at Home

Lucille Ledoux — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 12:18:11 +0000

Not too long after I was born, my uncle Pitou Lessard (his name was really Lionel) undertook his own migration to the US from Canada, looking for work. Of course, he moved in with us. Today, people would say the apartment on Howe Street in Lewiston was too small to take in another adult, but […]

My Aunt Blanche, My Favorite Canadian Immigrant

Lucille Ledoux — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 20:24:53 +0000

During these years, Aunt Blanche Lessard lived with us. When she was in her early twenties, while we were still on Shawmut Street, she had come down as a Canadian immigrant, looking for employment and had moved with us to Jefferson Street. In Lewiston, she apprenticed as a hairdresser with a Canadian woman and eventually […]

Visiting My Parents’ Home Town, Thetford

Lucille Ledoux — Tue, 09 Jul 2013 16:15:55 +0000

It was my first time visiting Thetford since I was three. I did not remember anything from the first trip except being so pleased to sleep at my Lessard grandparents’ house. In my growing up, I had not had the luxury of staying over at a grandparents’ place as many other kids in Lewiston had. […]

Here to Stay: Developing Nationhood and Community in New France

Denis Ledoux — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:43:48 +0000

Here to Stay: Developing Nationhood and Community in New France Here to Stay: Developing Nationhood and Community in New France is excerpted from my historical memoir Here To Stay. Here I write about my maternal ancestors Bartélémy Verreault and Marthe Quittel. As I recorded genealogical information—the births, marriages and deaths of my ancestors, I began […]

A Franco-American Memoir: April Fool’s Day

Lucille Ledoux — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 15:53:44 +0000

DL—The following excerpt is from We Were Not Spoiled, the Franco-American Memoir of Lucille Verreault Ledoux as told to Denis Ledoux. My Father Learns About April Fool’s Day Moving to Howe Street also meant that I lost my friends on Jefferson Street. I could still get together with Juliette and Jeannine at school but they […]

Albert and I Decide to Marry

Denis Ledoux — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 17:56:07 +0000

In February of 1944, Albert was given a seventeen-day furlough and, during that time, we became engaged to marry. We did not set a date, but we talked of a wedding… (more…)

Getting My Dream Coat

Denis Ledoux — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:02:54 +0000

From We Were Not Spoiled, the memoir of Lucille Verreault Ledoux as told to Denis Ledoux. My mother-in-law had a lovely black Persian lamb coat. It had large buttons that were very fashionable at the time. That coat was heavy and warm, and Mrs. Ledoux wore it everywhere. She looked good in it. Rhéa had a raccoon coat […]

The First Months of My Marriage

Denis Ledoux — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 18:39:19 +0000

e left Lewiston and our wedding guests to travel to Albert’s base in Syracuse, New York, at 1:30. Since it was still summer… (more…)