A Woman Ahead Of Her Time

My maternal grandmother, Elise, was a woman much ahead of her time. She spent her early adulthood travelling and didn't marry or start a family until her thirties - unheard of in the early twentieth century. Born in Jura by the Swiss border in France, she enjoyed a life of privilege. She did not marry until later in life, and spent her twenties travelling, especially to Paris. I wish I had asked her more about her youth when I spent time each summer with her and Grandpa. By the time I was old enough to start to wonder about the life she had led, she was gone, and with her went all the stories of her youth. I know that in her thirties, she travelled, alone, to Canada to join her brother, who was a priest. Her brother was not well, and she took him care of him, moving with him each time he was posted to a different parish. Eventually, she met Grandpa. They married and had two daughters. Even as a mother, she was a woman born before her time. She returned to Paris several times over the years. She travelled alone, crossing Canada and crossing the ocean by ship, leaving Grandpa and her children at home. I have pictures and post cards she brought back from Paris, but not the stories of what she did there or which family members were there to meet her. She was at the World Fair in Paris in the thirties. The post cards and pictures she gave me tell the story of the World Fair, but not the story of my grandmother at the World Fair. While I do not know the details of her life as much as I would like to, I do know that she was strong, independent woman long before society encouraged women to be that way. Being secure in the knowledge that strength, independence and self-reliance runs in my genes . . . it's a good thing.