1948-
My name is Nicole Lisette Lachance, nee Leblanc. I was born in a small town in the Gaspe Peninsula, called: St-Edgar, Quebec, Canada, on February 4, 1948. I believe my background is French and Irish on my father's side and French and Dutch on my mother's. I was the 6th child. The oldest was a sister, (Marie) that died shortly after birth. Then 2 sisters, (Micheline and Mona) 2 brothers (Arthur and Reuben) All a year or so apart.
I was told that there was a big snow storm that day. I was born at home, of course way out in the country. My uncle was the only other adult at home that day, so he hitched up the horses and went looking for the doctor or the midwife. Well, from what my uncle would tell me, time and times again, he made it back with the doctor but he had to leave the horses behind because they got stuck in a big snow drift. When he went back for them that day, both horses were dead. 1949- Since my dad went to work out of the Province for a year, they had no new baby the following year. Well almost two years after I was born, they got rewarded with fraternal twin boys. (Gerald and Renald). Are you counting, that makes 8 kids. When I was still young, we moved to a bigger village about 15 miles away. It's called New-Richmond. Most of my family still live there. My parents had 5 more children. 2 girls (Diane and Rachel) 3 boys (Bernard, Richard and Gino).
I had to quit school when I was 13, to help out my mother. My older two sisters were married and gone so I was the oldest female left at home. I finished 8th grade and went for a couple of months in 9th grade. It was an all french Catholic school. At the age of 14, I went to work as a housemaid in a family of 15 kids, I was left alone with the kids for over a week. I had to lock my bedroom door at night, because the kid's father tried to get in bed with me.
I remember the wringer washer broke down and I had to wring all the clothes by hand. I worked there for a few months and got a better job in a home with only 3 kids. 1963- I got pregnant by a 25 yr.old beer drinking man, when I was 15 yrs.old. Of course, back then it was kept a big secret. I was sent away as soon as I started to show my pregnancy. February, 1964- 2 days after my 16th birthday, all by myself, I had a baby girl. My mother was due to have her 13th baby a few weeks later (Rachel) and my oldest sister just had a baby herself. Another sister was going to keep my baby until I was able to support it myself but not long before I had the baby, she told me she couldn't do it, she was pregnant with her third child and was worried she would get too attached to it. The baby's father left me right after I told him about being pregnant, so I had to give her up for adoption. I gave her the name Danielle. The nurses at the hospital wouldn't even let me see her, but I snuck up to the nursery and a new nurse brought my little girl to the window, until another nurse came in and took my baby away. When I got back home a few weeks later, my mom already had her baby girl. She looked exactly like my little girl. When Danielle was about 3-4 months old, a friend drove me to Gaspe where I had left her, and I tried to get her back. They wouldn't even tell me if she was adopted yet. When my little brother Richard was 4, my dad accidently run him over with a tractor and he died instantly. I really took it hard. For me that was my second loss in a few months. In the summer of 1964, still 16 yrs old, I couldn't stand to be helping take care of my little sister anymore, so I left home, on my way to Toronto, Ontario.
I was lucky to meet a nice older lady on the train and I followed her to a small town near London, Ontario. She helped me get a job in a turkey plant. I had to clean gizzards and I was sick for the first couple of weeks.
I met a 27 yr.old man that I can say today, he was the love of my life. His name was Claude, he never drank or abused me. I still think about him very often. I didn't even tell my family where I was, until Christmas of that year.
Christmas, 1964- I spent all my savings buying the whole family Christmas gifts. I had a week off of work so I went to visit some uncles in Toronto. While I was there, I learned my mom needed help, so I went back home. I never seen or heard from Claude again. Spring, 1965- I stayed there until spring of 1965. While I was working as a maid in a hotel, I met a heavy drinking 36 yr.old man (Andre Mercier). I ran off with him to Montreal, Quebec, at the age of 17, without telling anyone again. I was sitting in the car one night, waiting for Andre to get out of the bar and some pervert came to my window and was showing me his penis. I pretended to be sleeping and he tapped in my car window. I made sure all the doors were locked and I scooted down to the floor so I wouldn't see him. He finally gave up and left. I stayed on that floor until Andre got back. I got a job in a children's clothes factory. It was a very hot summer. I wasn't used to living in a big City so I could hardly stand the hot, humid temperature.
One night when I was 8 months pregnant, Andre hit me so hard, I fell and thought the baby was dead. Thank goodness I was wrong. I felt it kicking the next day.
I gave birth to a little girl on May 13, 1966. (Chantal Andree Mercier). I decided to tell my family where I was. My mom, grandmother and my sister Mona came to see my baby girl.
Back then in Canada, women were not allowed in bars with men. He would often leave me in the car for hours. One night I was waiting for him with the baby in the car. I left the window open about 4-5 inches on the driver's side. Some weird guy reached in and was trying to get the keys out of the ignition. I rolled the window up with his arm stuck in it,grabbed the baby and ran in the bar. I had some guy call the police, Andre was too drunk to do anything. I couldn't go talk to him so I waited in the office until he was ready to go. Cops arrested the weird guy, he was a bum living under the bar's porch. Late one night I got up to go to the bathroom. I found Andre in there with a male friend of his, in a very compromising position. He was pretty drunk so I didn't think much of it. One day Andre stopped at the bar after work, as usual. It was pay-day and he got pretty drunk. He hit a car on his way home and left the scene. He hid his car at a big shopping center and walked home. We'd been talking about moving to the states, he had read about a company that was hiring electrical linemen in Ohio. He called them up, packed his clothes and left a couple of days after the accident. The day after he left the cops came looking for him. I told them that he left me and I didn't know where he went.
