A CHILD IS BORN IN LITTLE CANADA 100 YEARS AGO - MY MOM!

Under a Full Moon in a Little Canada bedroom, a child was born. October 16, 1916 Baby Rita was the  first born to J. Oscar and Ida Marie LeDoux Poulin. French-Canadian Americans by birth, Baby Rita, a Princess indeed, was destined for a good life. From poverty she climbed the ranks in life as a daughter, sister, husband, cousin and friend. My mother was beautiful, brilliant and reasonably buxom.




October 16, 1916, was totally different to todays eclectic worlds of cyberspace. In 1916 there were a lot of "NOs"..1. No Radio, 2. No Television, 3. No Automobile, 4 No electricity 5. No refrigeration  Just the ice man!. No nothing but huge families that kept the Catholics poor!. My mother had 4 sisters..Dolorose, Florence, Jeannette and Blanche. Two brothers were named Albert and Francis who proved to be the Valedictorian at North Brookfield High School in 1947!




Pepere Poulin was a shoemaker and a cobbler, smoked 2 packs of Camels a day and died at age 56. Ida died at age 61 of a stroke.




My mom seemed to emancipate herself at a young age.She quit North Brookfield High in here Senior year saying she was bored! She began working for HH Brown and collected a pay envelope of $10 every week. Mother gave it all to help the family survive save for a dollar for a new pair of nylon stockings.




Oscar Poulin proved to be the matchmaker for "Joe and Rita." Married on April 18, 1936, this handsome couple began to fly on their own. The lived, too, at 44 Forest Street, NB. until moving to a new house on South Main Street. The cost was $4500! They saved War Bonds for their down payment. Bingo. WWII ended and home prices skyrocketed.  Our home's value went to $7,500 in less than 6 months according to old Ed Quinn, broker..


Homemaker - My mother was the homemaker and boy did she make and bake our home lives with love. Gradually we got all of the accoutrements such as a new Gas Range from EP Wine in 1950, a used Philco TV from R.T Quigley in 1952, a Maytag automatic washer and dryer in 1958 from Randy Whitehead our Maytag Man!




Our home was truly our castle. Joe and Rita instilled the goodness in my years. In return I donated a brand new Zenith console color tv to our home .. a reward from my Vietnam savings...$700 in March of 1968 from Mac's TV..NB.




My folks were trendsetters in their own right. Nice Sunday best and Sunday Mass every week for a lifetime. Happiness and family. My Mother aged like a bottle of Pinnaud Champaign...the kind I gave to Josh for his professional achievement.


And to be so lucky to have a mother "forever." In Vietnam I could count on her for a letter every 4 days or so. She even complimented me on one letter I wrote to her.."A wonderful letter." Thanks, Mother Rita.




Rita Ida Poulin Potvin game me and my family equanimity from our life storms.


She was truly brilliant. The St. Joseph Nuns would say "'Why are those Poulin children so smart?" Right One, Sister Soldier!


Our prized automobiles "slept" in our heat garage, work shop and play area for the 7 grandkids.She would spread newspapers under the car's drippings as my only dog Dusty slept on his rug having doggie nightmares and fidgeting.LOL.




Right to the end Gram Rita was our Queen. Decorous and patriotic she knew life's score.  She was a one of a kind mother..THANS, MOTHER  and yes she put soap in my mouth as a boy and knew how much I just loved her chocolate cake made with mayonnaise! Wow. ..truly the Good Old Days.


With love,


BobbyP  Your son and Blogger