A Golden Anniversary Celebration

Back row: Armand Levesque, Raymond Levesque,
Jeanne Soucy Levesque, Lucien Delcour,
my brother Albert LeBlanc, Mathilda Doyon Levesque,
Alphee Levesque, Albert Levesque,
Gloria Levesque, my sister Claudia LeBlanc,
my father George LeBlanc,

Front row: Me, my mother Rosanna Levesque LeBlanc,
Claudia Levesque Delcour, my cousins Gilbert/ Dolores Levesque,

Mémère Arthémise Dumais Levesque - on her lap Ronald Levesque, Pépère Étienne Levesque, Emile Levesque,

Malvina Gallant Levesque, Patricia VanCoillie - absent: Gerard Levesque and Gabrielle Rousselle Levesque

The above is a family photo taken when we celebrated my grandparent's Golden Wedding Anniversary. Fifty years of marriage is certainly an occasion to celebrate and celebrate we did. My grandparents, Étienne Lévesque and Arthémise Dumais were married 15 October 1895 at Ste Anne Church, Lawrence, Massachusetts.

They were the parents of nine children. Three died shortly after birth and one died in child birth at the age of 22. Her name was Alexina. I've always like that name.

All of their living children married. Their son Emile and his wife Malvina five sons and two daughters for a total of eight. One son and one daughter died sometime after birth. Albert and Viola had one daughter; Alphee and Mathilda had one son and two daughters; Claudia and Lucien had no children; my parents Rosanna and George had three sons and three daughters. Two sons and one daughter died at young ages. Two great grandchildren are in the photo - they were grandchildren of my uncle Emile and his wife Malvina.

Beatrice, Arthémise, Étienne and Philibert leaving Ste-Anne Church after renewal of marriage vows

The anniversary celebration for our grandparents began with the renewal of their marriage vows at Ste Anne's where they had married fifty years earlier. The same "witnesses" participated - my grandmother's sister Beatrice and her husband Philibert. From the church we went to a hall where a gala celebration took place. It was a wonderful time.

This year my husband Tony and I will celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. Our youngest daughter Sarah married this past May. Our oldest daughter Rebecca will be married 9 years at the end of September. What pleases us most is that our daughters and their spouses entered their marriages committed that they will be wed forever.

I believe there are three things to live by in a marriage:

1. Never go to bed angry with one another (even if that seems impossible!)
2. Keep your love for one another alive
3. Never let anyone come between you and your spouse (especially your own parents)

If you are having an anniversary this day, this week, this month or this year, CELEBRATE! An anniversary is the time to celebrate all you have lived as a couple committed to one another.

Love,

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Lucie LeBlanc Consentino
Acadian & French-Canadian Ancestral Home