Category: Audette

In the Kitchen With Mom

Valarie7 Comments

1974 made its way back into my life recently when I rediscovered cassette tapes from childhood. They lay in a shoe box for years, since cassette players have ghosted us like that friend that just slips away.

Two, of the tapes have disengaged from their reel and are in need of repaired. Two others, are fine. I wanted to convert the tapes to digital; however, there was NO Way that I was going to box them up and ship them off to some conversion service. No insurance in the world could persuade me that these treasures would make it back into my possession. Therefore, I took the advice found on Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter article, “How to Easily Convert Old Cassette Tapes to Modern MP3 Files”. I purchased a portable cassette player with a built-in audio-to-digital converter.

Conversion done. I pressed play — instantly I was taken back to my ten year-old self. In the 20-second clip that I am sharing, (don’t worry, I’m not going to bore you with all 2 hours) I am in the kitchen with my mom (only back then her title was Mommy) and sister. I hear my Mommy’s voice. HER VOICE — after forty-one years. It’s like details of that day rush back to me, and I’m there, hovering over the kitchen watching it all play out.

Although I haven’t celebrated a living Mother’s Day with my mom in forty-two years, today I will celebrate hearing her voice.

In a attempt to quickly put this together, I didn’t label the photos in the video, so I do so below.

  1. Mommy, June Carol Ann Audette 1947, age 4
  2. June with first born daughter, Vicki
  3. June with her girls, Valarie on left and Vicki on the right
  4. Valarie and June
  5. June with her girls, Valarie on left and Vicki on the right
  6. June and Valarie
  7. June with her girls, Valarie on left and Vicki on the right
  8. June with her girls, Vicki on left and Valarie on the right
  9. June with her girls, Vicki on left and Valarie on the right
  10. June with her girls, honorary daughter, Sherry, Vicki squatting and Valarie on the right

Wordless Wednesday: Mill Boy

Valarie3 Comments
Chace Cotton Mill: Mill Boys
The last boy on the far right, my great-grandfather, Joseph Adonias Audette. To his left his brother, Arthur Audette. In front of the Chace Cotton Mill, Burlington, Vermont. May 1909.

Citation
Hine, Lewis Wickes, photographer. All these small boys, and more, work in the Chace Cotton Mill, Burlington, Vt. Many of the smallest ones have been there from one to three years. Only a few could speak English. These are the names of some:- Lahule Julian, Walter Walker, Herman Rotte, Arsone Lussier, Addones Oduet, Arthur Oduet, Alder Campbell, Eddie Marcotte, John Lavigne, Jo Bowdeon, Phil Lecryer, Joseph Granger. A small mill.Location: Burlington, Vermont. Burlington Burlington. United States Vermont, 1909. May. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2018675118/.