Some people are lucky in the way that their families were so involved with their town that it seems every newspaper had a picture of at least one aunt, uncle, or sibling.

The Simard family, on my paternal side, is nothing of the sort. In documents I seen thus far, shared online by the town historical society and other people who grew up in the area, I had never seen a picture of family members with the Simard surname.

Until now!

I can’t begin to describe how ecstatic I was to see this page of the local mill’s newspaper from way back when share photos of my great-grandparents and their brood of children. I never – to my knowledge – met my great-grandfather, but did meet Meme a handful of times. I remember her as a petite, lovely old lady who only knew French. She had 12 kids, including two twins and a set of “Catholic twins.” This page from Paper Talks is the first time I’ve ever seen her as a young mother, and also the only time I’ve ever seen a picture of all twelve kids together.

This blog post is done in part for Amy Johnson Crow’s #52Ancestors challenge. To learn more, visit https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks/.