MY FAMILY (250 ENGLISH -- 249 franc)
EMILIE VANDERAEGEN
Daughter of Emile and Maria Vanderaegen
Née 1901-01-05 Brussels, Belgium
D. 1986-09-15 Donnelly, AB
Emilie was baptized in the St. Gudule Cathedral situated in the centre of Brussels, close to the street of “Des Longs Chariots.” The exact residence of her parents was 38 “rue Des Long Chariots.” All residences along this street were destroyed and the street “Des Longs Chariots” is now the beginning of a park.
PHOTO
Photo: On the day of her baptism, Emilie with her grandfather Albert Darimont, brother to Maria. This christening gown has been used now for the fifth generation.
Emilie began school with the Faithful Companions of Jesus at the Sacred Heart school near 107th Street in Edmonton, Alberta. In 1914 the family moved to Kinuso, AB, and Emilie went to the local school until her grade 8. Then she worked at her parents’ store; then in 1920 she began a course in nursing at the General Hospital in Edmonton.
Two weeks before graduation, Emilie and others who had not missed one day of classes or work, were rewarded ……..with a few days of holidays (Note: a nurse had to work 12 hours a day, seven days a week: 84 hours).
At the General Hospital, a not-too-young man worked as a volunteer in the office and seemed to take care of many people. He saw my mother and asked her if she’d take care of a woman from Falher who was going back home, but who did not speak a word of English. This very nice woman told her father once she got back home that she had met a good wife for Edouard. This was in 1923.
In Kinuso, Emilie discussed her future plans with her mother who was a business woman, and she suggested that Emilie open a shop in Calgary, AB of cloth goods from France and Belgium, and this is what Emilie did. She rented an apartment in the Lougheed Building at 1113-101 Street and named her boutique “The French Shoppe.” And an aunt close to the family who had gone back to Belgium sent her very nice quality material.
MY PARENTS’ LOVE AFFAIR
MY PARENTS’ LOVE AFFAIR
At the beginning of 1926, Father Henri Giroux was the pastor of the Joussard parish. He would often visit my grandparents who had a store in Kinuso, AB, the parish next to Joussard. My grandparents were the only Francophone people of the area at his time. My grandmother really admired the work which the Oblate priests were doing, and she’d often invite them for a meal. One day while Father Giroux was dining with my grandparents, my grandmother asked him if he knew some good French-Canadian men for her daughters.
“Yes’” he replied “I know a few, and one in particular.”
“My el“My eldest daughter is 25 years old, is a nurse, and should be coming to Kinuso during the third week of March.”
Father Giroux replied “I’ll take care of matters.”
Following the arrangements made for the third week of March, Emilie came home on the 15th of March, 1926; my father arrived on the 19th . On the eve, my father came by train and booked a room at the hotel which was in front of the store which my grandmother owned.
The next morning while my father was in the restaurant, the owner of the hotel went to my grandmother to say, “Your visitor has arrived.” I can only guess, but I am sure everyone was on his/her best behavior. The family lived above the store. My mother turned to her parents and said, “I’m going upstairs and won’t come down unless he has common sense and seems appealing.”
My father went to the store around 10:00 in the morning and greeted my grandfather whom he’d met in Donnelly a couple of years previous; then my grandmother and my mother arrived almost at once. My father was tall, had blue eyes, very blue eyes, and black hair. He presented himself well and my grandmother did not stop questioning him about his work, where he came from, his likes and dislikes and his hobbies. That is how she found out that he knew all the French-Canadian songs and this pleased her.
She didn’t ask for more. At noon they dined in the back, and my grandmother said to my father, “You must have been born close to water to have such blue eyes and black hair!”
“Yes,” he replied, “I was born along the shores of the St. Laurence.”.
My parents saw each other for three days. Before leaving he asked my mother if he could write to her and she replied, “You may
write to me in French. My mother always writes to me in French; I never went to school in French.” My father replied, “You may reply to me in English since I went to Collège St. Joseph in Memramcook, Nova Scotia.” Then he added, “I’ll write to you when every train leaves” which meant twice a week.
FIRST LETTER TO MY MOTHER
Dear Friend,
I’m at home and I’ve taken up my work which I had neglected for a few days. Now, I’m over my cold and all goes well.
I’m remembering the good time I had in Kinuso and cannot thank you enough for all the attention which you gave me. You welcomed me more than I expected to be welcomed and certainly more than I deserved. I’m delighted to have met such nice people as you all are.
Please offer my friendship to your brother and believe me to be
Your friend,
Edouard Cimon
This was the first of 42 letters written to my mother. My mother had to go back to Calgary, and my father to the in Donnelly. Above is a copy of his first letter to my mother and she always preserved it with the other 41 letters in a clear cedar chest which my father had given her.
On June 28th, they met for the second time; it was during the Alberta provincial elections. Lawyer Alcidas Giroux was the Liberal candidate for the electoral district of Grouard. As in all other elections, my father was always a Liberal supporter.
My grandparents were true Liberals and Kinuso was part of the electoral district of Grouard just as was Donnelly, Falher, Girouxville, etc. My mother’s name was on the voters’ list so she went to Kinuso to vote, but also to see my father. Her mother had told her, “If you intend to marry this man, go see where he lives.” So she went to Donnelly for two days and stayed with the Fillion family, good friends of my father. Mrs, Fillion was Yvonne Coté, and she had met my mother at the Sacred Heart School in Edmonton.
My parents returned to Kinuso by train , and there my father proposed to my mother on the Swan River Bridge; then he added “In the fall, after the harvest is in, I’ll go to see you in Calgary; we’ll buy a ring, a gift for your birthday, and then we’ll make preparations for our marriage.” The wedding date was to be January 4, 1927.
My mother asked her aunt in Belgium to send her material for her wedding dress; this material was called “fine soie de France ( fine silk from France). She made her own wedding dress (the dress which my sister Simonne wore for her first communion and her funeral seven months later.) This dress was used three times in various lengths: for a wedding, for a first communion, for a funeral.
My parents’ third meeting was in October. My father roomed at the CPR Palliser Hotel in Calgary; he bought a ring at Birks’, a camera as a birthday gift, and made a lot of wedding preparations. After 3-4 days, my father went back to Edmonton. There he went to the J.T. Laflêche store and bought three suits: a black serge for the wedding, another good suit for Sundays and formal occasions, and a third more casual one. He also bought other items which he did not mention to us. While on their honeymoon he told my mother, “My black suit, I’ll wear for our wedding and for the wedding of our children and I’d like to be buried in it.” Come to think of it, this comment is not too bad for a bachelor who had no parents in the West. (Nota Bene: He also wore this suit for Simonne’s funeral.)
Towards mid December, my grandparents wrote to invite my father to spend the Christmas festivities with them. My father replied and thanked them for the invitation but added that he regretted that he could not spend Christmas with them, but he’d be in Kinuso for New Year’s, the feast of all French-Canadians.
People of the area were poor so no one could afford to invite too many people to a wedding; furthermore, the church would be heated from Christmas day until January 4th, but the priest promised that if it was 60 below, he’d go to the house to bless the couple.
The marriage was blessed on January 4 at 10:00 by Father Cyprien Bâtie and assisted by Father Henri Giroux. Some friends from Donnelly and Falher had made the trip to Kinuso, for example Fernand Capron had come to play the “Ave Maria” on his violin during communion. According to the Kinuso registrars this was the first marriage between two non Métis nor First Nations people. In front of the altar, Father Bâtie had placed a chair for the bride to sit on; someone took it away and Fernand Capron, not knowing it was for the bride, sat in it and it broke!!! Luckily it wasn’t while the bride was in it!!
After the wedding mass, many invited guests went to the local hotel for the reception,. We have no details of this reception but know that during this time, my father received a telegram for the lawyer Giroux congratulating him. The wedding festivities consisted of the mass, the dinner and a dance. For supper, my grandparents had invited every French-Canadian from the whole area and my grandfather presented each one with a bottle of Champagne from Belgium, his native country, In fact, my grandfather had ordered $400.00 worth of champagne from Belgium. Then in the evening there was a dance…not my father’s specialty! The married couple left around 5:00 a.m. by train for their three -week honeymoon at the CPR Empress Hotel in Victoria, BC.
Yes, they were lucky to visit the Burchart Gardens more than once. My parents liked to walk so they took advantage of the area, but I would add that more than just walking, they got to know each other during these walks. My mother had never lived on a farm; she liked the city; had never gone to school in French, etc. so they talked about their differences. For example my mother said, “I will never go to work in the fields, and I will not milk the cows, I am ready to care for the chickens, the garden, the lawn, the house, etc.” I never heard my father, nor my mother have heated words on those topics. My mother was very courageous and industrious, and always punctual; she was not afraid of work. Three weeks of their honeymoon soon passed and it was time to return; they had a night in a hotel at Lake Louise, another one in Edmonton where they bought a few pieces of furniture: a nice stove for the kitchen and a dinner set…
After having breakfast in the hotel, on February 1st, they returned to Donnelly. Then they were driven to the farm which was about one mile north of town.
After three weeks of big hotels, reality stepped in! The house which my mother had seen with a lover’s eyes, was now something else! She said to my father, “You who built this house, you can certainly build some shelves, some cupboards and a wardrobe for our clothes. I’ll paper the walls and paint all the cupboards which you’ll build for me. After all a can of paint does not cost much but sure helps a lot!”
When my mother showed me her love letters, she said, “You know, things do not always run smoothly; first of all there were thirteen years of difference; that was too much. But I must tell you that I always stayed in love with your father.”
On the eve of his death, my father told us, “Take care of your mother because she really took good care of me.”
These words were precious memories.
Four children were born of this couple:
Charles (1928-1984). In June, 1984 the parish of St. Martyrs-Canadiens in Saskatoon, SK presents the annual benevolent prize for personal benevolent involvement to memory of Charles
Simonne (1931-1938) died at the age of 7 from a dangerous flesh-eating disease. During her grade one, she had won the provincial prize for French; she was also the only student who had not missed a day of school at Donnelly. In September 1938, she attended school for only, then a few days at the hospital where she died on the 13th.
Marie Pascaline: ( 1933---) Married Gilbert Beaupré (born 1926-d 2007) and spent much of her life collecting genealogical histories of the French-Canadians from Manitoba to the Pacific Ocean in the West.
Bernadette (1934---) married Jean Doucette. In her later years, she gave of her free time to various benevolent activities but one in particular was to knit 7,000 slippers for the hospital in White Rock, BC. This really represents having knit one pair of slippers per day for 20 years.
And from these children there are eleven grandchildren.
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