IF THEY ONLY KNEW!

The Turn of the Last Century saw some amazing inventions such as the Automobile, the telephone, running water, electricity strung on lines and so on. My people lived in illiteracy and poverty. POTVIN..POULIN.. true bred French Canadians settling into Quinnebaug and North Brookfield. Their Catholic families did not provide for much. Scratch farming and Little Canada abodes were mixed in with the Irish Italians, Polish and Lithuanians. The WASPs yielded to the "Foreigners. Town after town saw huge brick shoe and textile factories blossom in an American life we'll never know.

Being born on July 29, 1942 and living in Emile Flamand's favorite community our Little Canada, everybody past the age 12 or 14 had to work...in shoe shops. Our languages were fragmented between broken English and the language of their old countries. There was little crime and Shammy locked up the drunks. Uncle Silveau LeDoux was in charge of  public welfare as we know in NB.. Emery DeLongchamp, too, served in that social discipline.

What I'm getting at is my forebears and yours had little, died young and most are buried in the cemeteries of surrounding New England towns. As a local historian of sorts I delight is learning about my genealogy.

Tomorrow, I will travel to Thompson, CT to review my POULIN roots. I love it.

Truman once said "The only thing we ever learn in life is the history we don't know!" What is your U.S. History IQ...100 or failing?! Don't we all owe it to the future generations to inspire them with the truth. Storytelling can be a wonderful pastime of old folks. Geezers and biddies now are more educated and worldly. To say the least I am not paralyzed by an inferiority complex like my poor father, Joseph Emil was. I went for life's gold and still am mining a few nuggets. Got an? LOL.

From decade to decade, I have gone from cloth diapers to a brief period of depression and despair.But my clouds have cleared and now I have a Cloud....and some of Don Kent's clouds.I can't emphasize how important it is for all of us to try to keep up with the times Dump your TV as we once did the Duke. Go  cordless  young man and young lady. Get some flashy cloths in Spencer...you know where..yes, even for underwear. .Oh ,my as Doc Wight would say, as I flattered him by saying to him "You remind me of the Rev. Norman Vincent Peale!"... and he truly did. Doc Wight makes the top 10 of my life's friends list.

 And the beat goes on and the computer off for a Sunday. Just don't take tomorrow to bed with you as Peale would write.