The following excerpt was taken from Here to Stay, a memoir/history of my seventeenth-century Canadian ancestors. Louis was the first of my patronymic ancestors in the New World. Louis Ledoux and Marie Valiquet During his first decade in Canada, Louis did not marry. While his friend Adrien Sénécal was growing a family, Louis remained single, paying (one presumes) the bachelor tax. In the early 1670s, Louis moved from one settlement to another, but, by the end of the decade, he had become an habitant [farmer] in Varennes where he would spend the rest of his life. Louis Ledoux must have (more…)

The following is an excerpt of a memoir of my high school years. This is the opening paragraphs of the introduction to the book—the first text you would read. In the summer of 1960 when I was thirteen, my mother drove me into Lewiston to Vincent & Leblanc’s on Lisbon Street at Ash Street. There, in a shopping spree that was unprecedented, she bought me more new clothes than I’d ever had at any one time. Shirts, pants, underwear, socks, even handkerchiefs. The seminary’s list of clothes I was to bring had been very precise—three of these and two of (more…)

I am pleased to introduce you to guest blogger Marguerite Roy’s notes on the composition of her book, Aurore: My Franco-American Mother. Having just finished my own mother’s memoir, We Were Not Spoiled, I was keen to read about Maggie’s experience of working with family material. Maggie, by the way, did a stint in my Turning Memories Into Memoirs lifewriting workshops back in the 1990s. An Extraordinary Woman in an Ordinary World It was inevitable that I should write Aurore: My Franco-American Mother. From early childhood, I enjoyed my mother’s stories, visualizing the scenes as she talked about her family and the past. During (more…)

The following is an excerpt from We Were not Spoiled by Lucille Ledoux as told to Denis Ledoux. The trip to Syracuse We left our wedding guests at 1:30 for the train trip to Albert’s base in Syracuse, N.Y. Since it was still summer and the sun was out late, we saw much beautiful country as we rolled though Massachusetts and New York. When we arrived in Syracuse, it was dark. We did not have reservations for the night, so we went to the Yates Hotel downtown not far from the station. The Yates was a big hotel, and they (more…)

The following is an excerpt from We Were Not Spoiled, by Lucille Verreault Ledoux, as told to Denis Ledoux. I’m not the only new person in the apartment 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 in those days, there was almost always room to take in another brother or sister who needed (more…)

The following is an excerpt from Business Boy to Business Man, by Robert Verreault, as told to Denis Ledoux. The book is available on Amazon.com. Cecile and I Marry On May 3, 1952, Cécile and I were married at Holy Cross Church in Lewiston, Maine. Ours was the first of three weddings in the Verreault family that had been planned for that year. Reggie was getting married in August, and Normand in November. Our wedding reception was at the Webber Avenue Club. Although the club was only a short distance from the church, I had been offered a limousine from (more…)

This excerpt is from Business Boy to Business Man, the memoir of Robert Verreault as told to Denis Ledoux. The memoir was published in 2013. At 27, I was ready to get married but I had not found anyone yet. I sensed being married would be a good thing for me and I began to get more serious about finding a wife. One Saturday evening in the fall of 1950, I went to the Bates Hotel which was on Bates Street near Main Street. The Bates Hotel had a dance every Saturday evening. Across the room, I saw a girl (more…)

“My photos tell only a part of my family story. How can I include more of it in my albums?” scrapbook consultants asked when I presented writing workshops at two national Creative Memories™ conventions in 1996 and 1997. Creative Memories is a premier, international company that promotes and teaches photo-safe scrapbooking awareness through classes and workshops.

Since 1988, I had been helping thousands of people to write their personal and family lifestories through my Turning Memories Into Memoirs™ workshops. Because of my experience, Creative Memories invited me to teach their consultants what scrapbookers call photojournaling. I taught them how to write interesting and effective narrative texts–cameo narratives, I call them–to incorporate into the well-designed, photo-safe photograph albums Creative Memories folk produce and advocate. (more…)

“My family Feels the Depression” is excerpted from Business Boy to Business Man, by Robert Verreault (with Denis Ledoux). The home we lost in 1931 On October 29, 1929, the stock market crashed. Of course, I didn’t know that, as I was only six. Soon though, my parents, although they didn’t have stocks to crash, were beginning to feel the effect. By 1930, everyone was slipping into the Depression, and mortgages were being foreclosed everywhere as people lost their jobs and their life’s savings. That was around the time that my father had had to take a cut in pay. (more…)

Louis Ledoux and Marie Valiquet Marry

By Denis Ledoux

During his first decade in Canada, Louis did not marry. While his friend Adrien Sénécal was growing a family, Louis remained single, paying (one presumes) the bachelor tax. In the early 1670s, Louis moved from one settlement to another, but, by the end of the decade, he had become an habitant in Varennes where he […]

Preparing to Leave Home

By Denis Ledoux

In the summer of 1960 when I was thirteen, my mother drove me into Lewiston to Vincent & Leblanc’s on Lisbon Street at Ash Street. There, in a shopping spree that was unprecedented, she bought me more new clothes than I’d ever had at any one time. (more…)

An Extraordinary Woman in an Ordinary World

By Marguerite Roy

It was inevitable that I should write Aurore: My Franco-American Mother. From early childhood, I enjoyed my mother’s stories, visualizing the scenes as she talked about her family and the past. During my teen years, I thought my mother talked too much, repeating the same stories over and over again. Whenever she was on the […]

Albert Leaves for War, and I Go Back Home

By Lucille Ledoux

Robert and me with our parents summer 1923

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

By Lucille Ledoux

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 […]

Cécile and me on our way to the reception.

Cécile and Robert Verreault Get Married at Holy Cross Church in Lewiston, Maine

By Robert Verreault

This excerpt is from Business Boy to Business Man, the memoir of Robert Verreault as told to Denis Ledoux. The memoir was published in 2013. On May 3, 1952, Cécile and I were married at Holy Cross Church in Lewiston, Maine. Ours was the first of three weddings in the Verreault family that had been […]

Robert Verreault Decides It’s Time to Get Married

By Robert Verreault

Creative Memories and the Memoir Network

By Denis Ledoux

My Family Feels the Depression

By Denis Ledoux

Excerpted from Business Boy to Business Man, by Robert Verreault (with Denis Ledoux). On October 29, 1929, the stock market crashed. Of course, I didn’t know that, as I was only six. Soon though, my parents, although they didn’t have stocks to crash, were beginning to feel the effect. By 1930, everyone was slipping into […]