Week 2 of 2025’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge covers one of my favorite prompts: “Favorite Photo.” I have no shortage of them!
Little Linda slept soundly in her Pappy’s arms, one arm flung out from the blanket and drool pooling at the corner of her mouth. Pappy “rested his eyes” while holding her. Before long, his head was thrown back and snores rumbled through his chest. This incredibly sweet picture of my mother and her grandfather Exalapha was taken in Montreal in September of 1953 when she was 16 months old. Mom was often sent from Maine to Canada for long visits with her grandparents. This was likely her first solo trip.
Connie, my grandmother, was a month away from delivering her third child in as many years. Her parents offered to take Linda to ease her load. Nanny Laura, who birthed 11 babies, understood how difficult it was to care for multiple small children while heavily pregnant. And Pappy, well he adored children and missed having little ones around. They knew Linda would be a joy to care for. She was an “easy baby” – always bright-eyed and smiling. They planned to keep her until the new baby was born and then bring her home when they all went down for the Christening.
Linda had fun at first. She was totally spoiled by her aunts, uncles, and grandparents. One cousin, Lise, was close to her in age and the little girls dubbed “Miss Canada” and “Miss America” played together. Pappy had endless energy and Nanny, a proud American herself, had a special place in her heart for her American granddaughter, whom she lavished with attention. But as time went on, little Linda missed her parents and her older brother, Ronnie. She didn’t understand where they were or when they were coming back. The normally happy toddler stopped eating and was so miserable that they brought her home early.
Mom was too young to remember this particular trip, but she recalls another visit to Montreal the following summer when she was two. Her Uncle Yvon shared his Life Savers with her, which left a big impression on the little girl. She loved the sweet taste of the candy. “It would be a choking hazard now, but back then, no one thought of that!” she said. She can still picture the apartment her grandparents lived in as well as their summer camp. While there, Nanny and Pappy measured her for water shoes. She was wearing a dark outfit and vividly recalls being scared as they held her still because she didn’t understand why they were tracing her foot on a piece of newspaper. She made many happy memories with her grandparents, and other than that one time when she was itty-bitty, she never went home early again.
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