How much French still exists in New England?
UN HISTOIRE DE J'HIBOUX. (the story of an owl)
UN HISTOIRE DE J'HIBOUX. (the story of an owl)
SOME OF YOU MAY REMEMBER. My odds of finding this cookie jar is about the same as winning the lottery. When I was a kid in Edmundston New Brunswick, where I was born, living at 41 Rue Veniot, more than 50 years ago, my parents had this cookie jar on the kitchen table. It was an owl, "un J'hiboux" as we all called it in our French Patoua. This owl would not only hold the goodness of cookies in its belly, but it was as if it was there on the kitchen table starring with its big eyes to make sure my brother and I would finish our homework, or watching to see if one of us would make a wrong move at a board game we played in the kitchen. When we were old enough to babysit ourselves, le J'hiboux was there keeping and eye on us. It seems it was there to protect us.
After all these years, I'd forgotten about " le J'hiboux" because when we moved to the State of Maine in 1956, my parents sold all of their belongings. Last month on my search for end tables at a local flea market, there it was sitting on a shelf, like it had been there all along waiting for me, it certainly caught my attention and I came to a dead stop. It made my head spin. I asked the flea market attendant to bring it down from its perch so I could have a closer look and as he did he removed its head so I could view the inside that once held its sugary morcels. The sound it made as he did so, all kinds of my childhood memories came back to me and I was frozen in a daze and in time. He, the attendant, smiled, looking at me, said. "BRINGS BACK MEMORIES ?". I responded "YOU HAVE NO IDEA". In any event, I did not purchase the darn thing at that moment, it was too expensive for such a cookie jar; I tried to convince myself. I mean really out of line expensive. I went home, and debated for a week and the more I thought about this non flying owl of my youth, it kept bringing more and more fond memories to my mind, such as reaching in its full belly of goodies for a cookie that my mother had baked that day . Gee! I'm thinking, maybe my parents got this thing as a wedding present, who knows , wedding presents were simple back then. Well! you guessed it, I went back to the flea market and bought it, but I want you to know I did not pay the original asking price. This old ceramic piece of glass that probably cost $2.95 back in the 1940's has brought me so much joy, every time I look at it, I can hear my mother saying, after asking her if wehad cookies in the house after school, "R'garde dans J'hiboux" she would say. Oh! how I wish I had found this prized owl we called "J'hiboux" so my mother could have seen it before she passed away last October. She would have been thrilled.
Now it sits in (her) house again in Connecticut on my kitchen counter, but I think I will move it to the kitchen table where it always belonged back then and watched over us. A friend mine even suggested to me that maybe its the same owl that flew back home to be with its family again. I decided in my heart that it was and I also decided not to re-touch its faded and warned decorated paint on its face, nose and wings, because it reminds me of small hands removing its head to reach inside its bulging belly for a treat, of long ago.
Joseph (Roger) Ouellette
Plainville, Connecticut 06062
SOME OF YOU MAY REMEMBER. My odds of finding this cookie jar is about the same as winning the lottery. When I was a kid in Edmundston New Brunswick, where I was born, living at 41 Rue Veniot, more than 50 years ago, my parents had this cookie jar on the kitchen table. It was an owl, "un J'hiboux" as we all called it in our French Patoua. This owl would not only hold the goodness of cookies in its belly, but it was as if it was there on the kitchen table starring with its big eyes to make sure my brother and I would finish our homework, or watching to see if one of us would make a wrong move at a board game we played in the kitchen. When we were old enough to babysit ourselves, le J'hiboux was there keeping and eye on us. It seems it was there to protect us.
After all these years, I'd forgotten about " le J'hiboux" because when we moved to the State of Maine in 1956, my parents sold all of their belongings. Last month on my search for end tables at a local flea market, there it was sitting on a shelf, like it had been there all along waiting for me, it certainly caught my attention and I came to a dead stop. It made my head spin. I asked the flea market attendant to bring it down from its perch so I could have a closer look and as he did he removed its head so I could view the inside that once held its sugary morcels. The sound it made as he did so, all kinds of my childhood memories came back to me and I was frozen in a daze and in time. He, the attendant, smiled, looking at me, said. "BRINGS BACK MEMORIES ?". I responded "YOU HAVE NO IDEA". In any event, I did not purchase the darn thing at that moment, it was too expensive for such a cookie jar; I tried to convince myself. I mean really out of line expensive. I went home, and debated for a week and the more I thought about this non flying owl of my youth, it kept bringing more and more fond memories to my mind, such as reaching in its full belly of goodies for a cookie that my mother had baked that day . Gee! I'm thinking, maybe my parents got this thing as a wedding present, who knows , wedding presents were simple back then. Well! you guessed it, I went back to the flea market and bought it, but I want you to know I did not pay the original asking price. This old ceramic piece of glass that probably cost $2.95 back in the 1940's has brought me so much joy, every time I look at it, I can hear my mother saying, after asking her if wehad cookies in the house after school, "R'garde dans J'hiboux" she would say. Oh! how I wish I had found this prized owl we called "J'hiboux" so my mother could have seen it before she passed away last October. She would have been thrilled.
Now it sits in (her) house again in Connecticut on my kitchen counter, but I think I will move it to the kitchen table where it always belonged back then and watched over us. A friend mine even suggested to me that maybe its the same owl that flew back home to be with its family again. I decided in my heart that it was and I also decided not to re-touch its faded and warned decorated paint on its face, nose and wings, because it reminds me of small hands removing its head to reach inside its bulging belly for a treat, of long ago.
Joseph (Roger) Ouellette
Plainville, Connecticut 06062
- Attachments:
-
-
P1260001.JPG, 886 KB -
P1260002.JPG, 894 KB
-
P1260004.JPG, 882 KB
-
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Daniel Boucher on -
That's a very neat story. It's funny how we overlook the small things from our past that have become so significant. Thanks for sharing. I also can't believe how close you are to my hometown of Bristol, CT. Plainville??? You are a stones throw away! Do you have relatives here in Bristol? Ray Ouelette? "P'tit Kye Ouelette? Or even out in Vernon, CT. I had a student for a grant from the state of CT by the name of Nathan Ouelette? I'm sure like the "Boucher's" there are many with that name here. En tout cas, welcome here mon amis! A la prochiane...
-Daniel
-
Permalink Reply by Joseph Giles Roger Ouellette on -
Daniel: I graduated from Bristol High and lived there until my folks moved to Plainville. I only have one brother by the name of Leo James Ouellette, also from Plainville, no other Ouellette family members other than him. I just got back from Aroostook County up State Maine and Edmundston New Brunswick this past week end. I saw the devastating results of the St John and Mdawaska river flooding that occured recently, my cousines have all lost their campers at the Panoramic Camp sight in St Jacques. If it were not for the long harsh winters there, I would go back to my roots anytime. Everyone there speaks our languages and the traffic is minimal, its God's country and I love it. Thank you for the comments of my story on the J'hiboux. Joseph Roger Ouellette..
About
Badge
© 2009 Created by Daniel Boucher on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
