The lighthouse

I am reading on the couch. My husband is a few feet away at his desk. It is hot outside, almost 30° with a breeze, but the house is comfortable.

“Fascinating,” he says, and tells me about his impromptu research into my family history. We'd already checked out La Rochelle from where Michel Bodrot sailed to Canada somewhere  around 1740 and proceeded to popular the area with Boudrots (late Boudreaus).

Originally, we were going to Arichat, Nova Scotia in October, but not only are we travelled out, we need to spend time at home in Geneva. The trip was postponed until next summer.

My husband has found the lighthouse where my grandfather Edouard Boudreau worked from 1912 to 1923 at http://greenislandlighthouse.com/ My father must have been born there in 1913 or in nearby Arichat.

I would love to know what life was like on the island. Family history has it that my Aunt Alma was sent to relatives in nearby Arichat when my grandmother found her half way up the outside of the light house. She was four at the time more than my grandmother could handle with her other children.

I wish I’d asked my aunts and uncles more about life then. They were always talking about their early days after they immigrated to Massachusetts: my Aunt Lil’s job and the beautiful blouses she made, my Aunt Bert’s falsies that never stayed in place. I heard about dances and arguments over dresses.

Instead I will have to do some research. And we will be going there.