I don't think any of my family reads my blogs anymore and since I don't seem to talk to any of them very much either this seems to be the only place I can talk about my Mom. I don't hang around anybody that knew her or remembers her but just yesterday we got some information about her and her mom that was so cool and interesting. I have no desire to talk to my brothers about it all...but talking to you...somehow it is safe. Please indulge this family history I just learned.
Camille Montet was my grandmother. She was a 'love child' of a Brazilian diplomat and her socialite mother. Since her mother had married well, this was not a good thing so Camile was raised by foster parents in Normandy. When she turned 9 her mother came and got her and then lived with her from age 9-21. Her mothers name was Madame Leuiset. When she was 21 she looked for her foster family back in Normandy. She went to midwifery school at a Catholic school in a large castle and having earned her credentials went on to deliver 20, 000 french babies and lost only 2.
Camille married Albert and good looking philanderer who was a painter, an artist and a performer. Albert came from a Russian/French background but then everyone in France comes from mixed blood. ( this is told from her daughter My only living Aunt). During WWII when the imminent invasion was to occur Camille and her 5 children moved to Marsaille , then Geneva and then settled in Grenoble and became an Administrator in an orphanage for young women who had children without husbands. Because she received food stamps she was able to help many during the war and took part in the underground railroad helping Jews to make it the Holy Land. My mom and her brother were in Switzerland at this time as many children were put out of harms way. They lived so high up in the mountains that there were no trees and Mijo (my mom) was a shepherdess. My Grandmother had Yves, Michelle, Mijo & Camille, and Marie-Therese. My grandmother outlived 4 of her children. Camille, Mijo's twin, died of an ear infection. Yves, died when he fell off a roof when he was in his early 20's. Michelle died of bone cancer when she was in her 40's and Mom died when she was 52. My Grandmother died a few years ago which leaves my Aunt who lives presently in Erie, PA.
As my mother grew up, she was sad and morose. When Camille came to the Lord she had joy and this was true of my Mom who came to Christ when she was 15. She went on to a technical college to become a chef...but somewhere along the way she found herself at Bible college in Paris, met my Dad and the rest is history. She ended up so far away from her precious mother in a land so utterly foreign raising 4 of her own children.
What a legacy I carry from all these amazing, colorful, heroic , accomplished women...I can't help but feel that I have done so little in comparison.
2 comments:
Last evening I spent time working through a life story that had been provided to me. When I had done as much as I could on it, I sent it back with some questions that hadn't been answered.
Then, as is my custom, I checked your blog site, wondering if you had written anything during the day. What a coincidence - you had also been writing about Camille and Mijo. And you provided some answers to my questions about Mijo's siblings' deaths. I liked the way you shaped your Grandma's life! Good job.
I think you as a woman of strength and courage - now I know where you get these great resilient attributes from!
The fact that you freely and openly share yourself, your questions and ponderings with me through this blog places you with your mother and grandmother in the realm of accomplishing great things. Most importantly... your story/journey is not over yet!
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