Book of Memories for Genevieve Rolande Esnault

Story shared: to danielle

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 06:52:49 EDT

I love your story! It made me laugh so much! I was going through my moldy oldy photo albums and was just looking at pics of you and Nikki at that age, and I can actually picture the two of you running down that grassy alley flinging roses behind you!!!! You are right -- some emotions transcend language!! I still don't understand why she spoke English at the end. When Mommy asked her why she was speaking English, she said, "well, I always speak English." Oh! Really? Not to us!! I think she spoke to us only in French to have an advantage... Didn't expect this, but I sure do miss her grumpy self! BTW is anyone else finding pennies?? Grandma Josie leaves dimes, but Ma Petite Grandmere was just too cheap for that, and I'm finding pennies all over the place...

Story shared: Grandma Babysitting

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 21:57:26 EDT

I was small maybe 6 or 7 and Nicole was 3 or 4. I am not sure why Mommy needed you to babysit us but you must have agreed. We spent some time playing with the toys from the little suitcase. We loved the dishes and the cupie doll, but as we were small we were not occupied with these for very long. Grandma decided that maybe a picnic would keep us out of her hair and let us have some cheese and crackers and soda on the lawn. She left us in the yard with our little snack and went back upstairs. When we were finished with our petite repast we began to look with childrens eyes for something interesting to do. Anyone that ever visited my grandparents house in Flushing knows that my Grandfather had cultivated beautiful roses all around the house. Nicole and I both just loved picking flowers! Picking roses was very hard work, daisies and violets do not have thorns and they are much easier to pick, so we had to make due with pulling the heads off of the roses and collecting then up in our shirts. We did such a wonderful job and liberated all of the pretty flowers to give to Grandma and Mommy. We proudly made our way around the side of the house with our spoils as Grandma came out to check on us. Boy was she surprised! She was so overcome she lost all ability to speak English! We soon figured out that she was not at all happy with our choice of ways to occupy ourselves, as when someone is bearing down on you yelling like that it does not matter what language they are useing the message gets accross! We began running and flinging flowers behind us in hopes it would slow her down. Much to our relief, when we hit the dead end in the yard she only continued to yell, and we were not spanked. Mommy arrived shortly after and contained her laughter long enough to calm down Grandma and take us home. I can not for the life of me remember Grandma ever babysitting us again. Sorry for the roses Grandma, but just so you know... Nicole and I did have a really great time picking them all! Love, Danielle

Story shared: Memories of "Ma Petite Grandmere"

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:22:37 EDT

I didn't always like her, but I did always love her. She was my grandma. I find it funny that most of my thoughts of her are associated with food -- Camembert sandwiches, Salami sandwiches -- all on Bellaccico's Italian bread. They were so delicious. I still make myself salami sandwiches on Italian bread with unsalted butter (she used Land O Lakes, but it's not usually in my budget). I also remember her being some sort of princess -- sparkly gowns and a tiara!! You can't get more Princess than that! I so wanted to be a princess like her. Also, I remember the toys -- one box of very small plates and cups, some of which had food on them. Suzie and I played with that stuff for hours -- funny how kids make do with what is available to them. And when Erick was a little guy -- he played with them too! She saved everything -- so we all now have to go through it LOL. Turnabout I suppose... After I married, we visited sometimes.. until I saw that her toilet was filthy!!! After that, I told Ivan we had to go to their house at least every two weeks! And I went there and cleaned! Any of you who have seen my house know how weird that is... but the thought of her house being dirty just totally made me crazy. I saw her every 2 weeks until they moved to France... Then -- only when they came to the US and I was the only one available to pick them up. I guess that at this point my best memory is of the last time she looked at me. Mom and I were at the hospital and she slept the whole time we were there. The nurse had given her medications and she was sleeping. We were ready to leave and I kisses her 4 times -- twice on each cheek in the French manner. Then I kissed her forehead and said, "I love you Grandma". She opened her eyes and I think she looked at me. I said to Mom and the nurse, "Look! She's opening her eyes!... and now she's closing them" That was it, just a second of her looking at me, but I guess it was enough. I wish she could have gotten to know her great-great grandson -- my biggest regret, I suppose. How many people live long enough to have a great-great??? I could probably go on for hours -- but what's the point? MA PETITE GRANDMERE -- I love you and always will! XXXOOO Janine

Story shared: shopping with Memere

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 17:49:48 EDT

I loved shopping with me mere when we went to Carl Ehmers and picked up ham salad, she always got me the ham salad because she knew I loved it.

Photo shared: 003.jpg

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 14:30:27 EDT

Photo shared: esnault_1.jpg

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 14:30:13 EDT

Photo shared: Esnault.jpg

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 14:29:55 EDT