The little Berthe

The weather is uncertain. This morning, the sun was shining brightly, and spring seemed to be settling in. From my window I could hear birds singing and children laughing as they played along the park paths. The air was filled with the scent of the first flowers and the smell of still-damp grass. By noon, a west wind began to rise. Gusts of wind made passers-by shiver, the sky turned threatening, and a heavy rain came pouring down. The clock has just struck two in the afternoon; the sky remains painted in shades of grey, and the wind is still as strong as ever. I am not going out today. I am going to write.

I immerse myself in the pile of accumulated documents. In the folder marked maternal ancestors, a birth certificate catches my attention: Berthe Marguerite HURET, born on October 29th, 1912, in Paris at her paternal grandparents’ home.

The name feels familiar.

Of course — she is the daughter of Berthe Félicie BOURGEOIS.

Her mother named her Berthe Marguerite, after herself and her younger sister Marguerite, with whom she shared such a close bond.

A few months earlier, she had married Albert HURET.

Albert, Berthe, and their daughter were living happily at 71 Rue des Chaufourniers, in Paris’s 11th arrondissement.

But happiness was short-lived.

Berthe became ill. She coughed more and more as the weeks passed. Then the doctor’s verdict came: tuberculosis. She knew she was doomed. She wished to spend her final days close to her parents. In May 1914, they returned to Calais.

Berthe passed away one month later, leaving her entire family devastated.

Little Berthe remained with her grandparents until 1921.

In the meantime, the war had taken her father away. When he returned, they settled in Lomme, near Lille, where Albert devoted his life to his daughter.

Had he fallen out with his in-laws? There would be no further contact between them.

In 1930, Berthe married Edmond DURIEUX. Did they have children? The future will tell us. Edmond died in Perpignan in 1962. How many years had they lived in that city?

After the funeral, Berthe returned to her native North, and the following year she married Max DECONNICK, who had been born in Belgium. Sadly, he passed away five years later. Berthe lived to the age of eighty-one and died in Lille in 1994.

Catherine’s grandmother never spoke to her about this niece, even though they had lived together from 1914 to 1921. Nor did she speak of Fernand’s children.

Life separates families, time passes, memories bury themselves deep within the mind, and after living through two wars, the present becomes what matters most.