A humble life...

Mme Buisson

My name is Marine BUISSON and I was born on the 1st of November 1915 in Modane, a little town in Savoie. I lived in Le Bourget until I was 45 years old. I married Vincent BUISSON on the 2nd of July 1927. I had three children with him. The first one was Jean-Claude who was born on the 13th of July 1943. The second one was born on the 19th of May 1949 and I called him René. The third was called Renée (I will explain why later).

During my childhood, I always helped my father Dominique on our farm. But, I wasn't as lucky as my brothers Fernand and Benjamin because I had to go back to school on the 3rd of September, unlike them who returned to school in October because they had to help my father to bring the cows back to the village because of the snow in the mountain pasture. I was a very calm girl even if I was quite impulsive. I was a good pupil and, being the only girl in my family, my mum Adèle gave me everything so as to have a good husband and a good life.

I met Vincent, my husband, in 1925 during a village fete. He was from Le Bourget, so my family accepted him quite readily (it was frowned upon to get married to someone from outside the Vallée de la Maurienne).

I am of the generation which went through the War as adults. It was a very difficult time for Vincent and me, even if we were lucky to be together (as he wasn't able to fight). I lost so many friends during this war; it was a very difficult time because we always feared for our friends.

As I said before, I had three wonderful children. René died in 1953 of measles and my husband and I were just devastated. We kept on fighting though for our son Jean-Claude. In 1955, we chose to have another child and I really wanted to have a girl. On the 13th of March, this wonderful event happened as Renée was born. We chose her name in honor of René of course. I really wanted a girl because I felt quite alone in the house. I’m very proud of Jean-Claude because he was always determined to work for all the family. And, when my husband died of cancer, he didn’t hesitate to go to the factory to earn money even though he was only 14 years old. 

In 1965, my son Jean-Claude got married to Marie-Claude. In 1967, they had their first daughter, Isabelle. She was very clever and intelligent, as was her sister Dominique who was born in 1972. They visited me every holiday. They both had two boys. Dominique had twins. I see Dominique’s sons more often because Isabel’s sons live in Germany so it’s very difficult for them to come to Savoie.

I lived with my son Jean-Claude from 85 to 90 years old. When I turned 95, I went to the retirement home to be closer to Renée as she didn’t have a “real” family other than me. She was with me every day. She helped me to keep healthy by walking a little bit every day.

I have not always been favored by life, but I always managed with the support of all my family.

Marine BUISSON died at the age of 99.

Article by Vincent MERCIER