This is the story of my life so far: 68 years and counting.
Prequel: A Brief History of my Family in France
The story starts here
Previous episode: Part 91
After Geneviève left the house, I needed to decide what to do for the family. Roseline was officially 12 years old, but she was in reality almost 14 years old (her birth date on her birth certificate was not the actual one), Betty and Syrille were 10 and Gaëlle was 6 years old.
It was obvious to me that I was not going to separate these 4 siblings and that I will take care of them.
Around this time, Madel, the biological mother of Syrille and Gaëlle decided to move to Canada and continue her education there, staying with her brother Louis, who was in Ontario at this time.
So, she wanted to make official my relation with her two children. We went to the local family judge who told us that we had two options: guardianship or simple adoption. He recommended that we chose guardianship, because it was easier and that there was no real advantage over simple adoption, as the biological parent could always take back the children in both cases. So, we ask for me to be the guardian and Geneviève to be the deputy guardian (subrogé tuteur). Madel did not trust her sister, so she did not want her to be the guardian.
Later, after we immigrated to Canada, I discovered that in fact I should have asked for simple adoption. I will explain this in due time.
After Madel left for Canada, there I was with 4 kids, from 12 to 6. Roseline then became the equivalent of a new mother for Gaëlle.
I had not realized this at the time, but I relied too much on Roseline to take care of her brother and sisters and because of this she did not have a normal adolescence.
Also, Gaëlle had been abandoned multiple times during her short life:
- Madel left her when she was 6 months old
- When she was almost 3 years old, Madel took her from her father's cousin that was taking care of her
- And at 6, both Geneviève and Madel left
It is a lot for a young child!
In 1990, we moved to our new house in Limeil-Brévannes and the children went to new schools. My parents were close by and were able to help us.
Continue to Part 93
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Summary
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7
Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10 Part 11 - Part 12 - Part 13 - Part 14
Part 15 - Part 16 - Part 17 - Part 18 - Part 19 - Part 20 - Part 21
Part 22 - Part 23 - Part 24 - Part 25 - Part 26 - Part 27 - Part 28
Part 29 - Part 30 - Part 31 - Part 32 - Part 33 - Part 34 - Part 35
Part 36 - Part 37 - Part 38 - Part 39 - Part 40 - Part 41 - Part 42
Part 43 - Part 44 - Part 45 - Part 46 - Part 47 - Part 48 - Part 49
Part 50 - Part 51 - Part 52 - Part 53 - Part 54 - Part 55 - Part 56
Part 57 - Part 58 - Part 59 - Part 60 - Part 61 - Part 62 - Part 63
Part 64 - Part 65 - Part 66 - Part 67 - Part 68 - Part 69 - Part 70
Part 71 - Part 72 - Part 73 - Part 74 - Part 75 - Part 76 - Part 77
Part 78 - Part 79 - Part 80 - Part 81 - Part 82 - Part 83 - Part 84
Part 85 - Part 86 - Part 87 - Part 88 - Part 89 - Part 90 - Part 91