52 Ancestors Week 10: Language

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 10

The theme for Week 10 is "Language." This is a theme where you can let your creativity shine! While you might want to write about an ancestor who spoke a different language than you, you could also explore someone who worked with like (perhaps as a writer or teacher). Any relatives who liked word puzzles?

Temba, his arms wide.

        Ancestors who spoke a different language than me, huh? Well, I think I've got that covered. I mean half of my family tree is Italian and the other half is three-fourths French-Canadian. I've got two of the Romance languages covered and that's pretty cool. Though, I admit I have a much easier time with Italian than I do with French because I've studied Spanish in school. Those two languages have a lot in common despite all three languages having Latin roots! It's interesting to note that while many of my French-Canadian ancestors were born in America, they still spoke French at home. I'm not sure why that was the case. Maybe they just wanted to hang on to a piece of their culture in a rapidly changing world. I don't know. But, I can certainly come up with a few ideas! It was certainly true for my great-grandmother Henrietta Legault and her brothers and sisters at least. They spoke a LOT of French!

Parles-tu français?

    Henrietta may have been born in Lynn, Massachusetts. However, she and her sisters spoke fluent French throughout their lives. That's interesting because in the US Census in Haverhill she and her sisters were listed as English speakers in virtually every census they appeared in! Their mother, Lucie, however was listed as a French speaker in the 1920 census. 

    Since their mother spoke French, it can safely be assumed that she taught her children French as well. Sadly, I have no idea if their father Antoine was proficient in French or not. I can assume he was since he was born in the heart of Quebec near Montréal. Yeah. That dude spoke Français. There's no doubt about it!

   Growing up, my mother would hear Henrietta talk to her younger sisters Clara, Matilda and Blanche in French. For the longest time, she had no idea what they were discussing. Were they talking about the family? The weather? The grandchildren?! It was indeed a mystery. Once my mother was in high school, she took French and eventually she was able to carry on conversations with her grandmother and her great-aunts in French! If there was ever an incentive to learn a foreign language, it's that! I still wish Salem High and Merrimack College offered Italian while I was there.

The Felker fam!

    Anyway, life was pretty sweet for Henrietta for quite some time. Her granddaughter learned French and they could talk to each other in two languages. Then the unthinkable happened. In 1967, Henrietta suffered a stroke which somehow robbed her of her ability to speak English.

    That, to me, was the strangest story I've ever heard my parents tell me and I know some whoppers! She lost her ability to speak English after a stroke?! I guess it depended on which area of the brain was impacted. The brain is a mysterious organ and we still don't know much about it despite all the studies that have been done since the 1960s.

    Naturally, the Felker family adapted to the new normal. She was able to understand English fine. However, she responded to questions in French. It took some time and eventually my great-grandmother was able to speak English once again. There was a lasting impact, though. Her vision was heavily impacted and she had to wear an eye patch for the rest of her life. During her recovery, my mother served as a sort of go-between between her and the hospital staff who obviously never spoke French.

Austin and Henrietta's 50th!

    The stroke clearly attacked the language center of her brain and I guess it scrambled a few circuits in there. The fact that she recovered after quite some time is a remarkable feat. Like I said. The brain is a strange organ. All it takes is one good hit to the head and you could wake up thinking you're a world famous movie star or worse. I'm just glad she recovered and lived long enough to attend her granddaugther's wedding in 1971.

    The exact details of her recovery are a little sketchy because my mother was just entering college at the time of the incident and was working at the hospital. I imagine she was all over the place at the time! She did all she could to help her grandmother recover and I'm sure all those years of learning French came in handy!

   

    The moral of the story is that it definitely pays to learn a foreign lanaguage in school because you'll never know when you'll need it. Learning French allowed my mother to help Henrietta at a very low point of her life. On the other side of my tree, my dad learned some Italian from his very Italian father and grandparents. I don't know if that ever helped anyone to the same extent that learning French helped my mother talk to my grandmother. It's still nice to have one or more languages stored up in your memory banks. Just remember English is a tough language to learn and sometimes we English speakers take it for granted.

    

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