Mother courage...

La Grange Neuve Farm, June 1994

My name is Marie Thérèse Combelle. I was born on the 8th of November 1939. As I was born at the start of the War, I didn’t meet my father until I was six years old. My mother told me that for more than three years, I refused to consider him as my father. I only started getting closer to him when I was eight.

When my father was mobilised, we were living in Paris. My mother decided to go back to her village in the Cantal. We lived in her brother’s farm, because my mother couldn’t manage to take care of me alone in Paris. My mother helped her brother in his large farm, La Grange Neuve.

I have two brothers and a sister. My two brothers are Jean and Raymond, named after my grandfathers’ names. And my sister is Andrée. We lived happily until I was seventeen. My father got cancer because of his detention in the labor camp during the War. He passed away within two months.

At the age of 24, I left my family and got married to Louis De Conquand. We lived in his parents’ house after their deaths. We took over the running of the family farm. I knew how to run a farm thanks to my upbringing.

We had four children: Martine and Annie, and Michel and Jean-Francois. We were never rich; we always had to be careful what we spent. When my husband was 56 years old, my first girl Martine left us for her job. She became a policewoman. My husband’s health got worse. Doctors diagnosed liver cancer. Louis succumbed after four months. His death was heart breaking for the entire family.

I was 53 when my husband died. I managed to run the farm for two years. With Martine and Jean-Francois gone, and two children still in my care, it was complicated. Martine sometimes helped. These were the most difficult years of my life. As I wasn’t able to manage alone and couldn’t ask my two children to stay in the family home, I decided to sell the animals and put all the meadows out to rent. My children encouraged me to take the driving test, to be more autonomous. My second boy left us to go to Clermont-Ferrand and became a cabinet maker. Finally, Annie left me to continue her studies in London.

This year, I will be 77. I live happily. If I feel lonely, I simply call up my children and I’m quickly back up on my feet again. I have seven grandchildren, aged three to twenty, who give me much love and joy: Mathilde, Louise, Léa, Maxime, Eva, Arthur and Alice. They really make me laugh each time I meet them.

I only have two regrets. The first is that my last girl, Annie, lives in Berlin with her family, and so I don’t see her more than twice a year. My second regret is the fact that my grandchildren never got to know their grandfather, Louis.

I now spend all day long in my garden, or I travel with the senior citizen’s club, or help my neighbours. I consider that my life is nearly over, and I hope that my children and grandchildren will continue to fight, like I did, so as to be proud of their lives.

Article by Louise VIGOUROUX,
Mme Combelle’s granddaughter