My dearly long-departed French/Irish mother Corona Haley grew up on the banks of the Matapédia River. She’d endured a hard life, was charming, feisty, sexy, funny and a consummate storyteller.
Family lore has it that she was born in the convent because her mother was only 15 years old when she got pregnant and for some strange reason the nuns took my mother’s name off a Smith Corona typewriter. Reginald Haley came to get Genora when they reached the age of consent to marry her and they had four more children. Sadly, he died a prisoner of war and my grandmother contracted cancer. Corona quit school when she was only 12 to care for her and her younger brothers and sisters. Don’t you love family lore? In any case, seriously damaged, my mother certainly had issues and our relationship was tumultuous but I loved her deeply and still miss her every day.
Happy Mothers Day Mom!
Thank you for sharing part of her complex story. She sounds amazing. hold those memories close… they are the place where she lives…
Thank you Deedra.
Hi Heather,
My mother was your aunt (Joan Haley). The way she told me the story was your mother was pregant with your oldest brother and your and, of course my grandfather would not give permission for them to marry. Your father said fine he would marry once the were of age…which they did.
Ah, family lore. Yes, so romantic, but you’re off by a generation. It was my grandmother Genora and grandfather Reginald. They have four more children before Reginald died in a Japanese POW camp.