S is for Ski trip: Mom meets the in-laws. No. 19 of 26 posts in the April 2024 Blogging From #AtoZChallenge. Theme, My Life: The Prequel (in Snapshots) — adding my parents’ story to the family history mix. Please join me on the journey.
Once my parents, Norm and Peg (Laurence) Charboneau, began seriously dating in 1946-47, it was time to meet one another’s parents.
Dad met Mom’s folks, Tony and Liz (Stoutner) Laurence, by making a multi-train trip from Otter Lake to Gloversville during a college winter break. Clearly, he really liked her.
Dad’s long Gloversville trek
Mom’s family had room to put him up, so he could stay for a few days before making the long trip home. Dad described it in a letter to Mom, sent about a week after she dropped him at the Gloversville train station late at night.
Jan. 5, 1947, Dear Peg, Woosh! What a sad sack journey you pushed me into when you shoved me on that train last week. After you left, we shifted around and around in the yard until 1:30[am] and then continued on our laborious way to you U-ki-ta [Utica], arrived there 4:20[am], changed to the Adirondack train, departed 5:00[am], arrived Otter at 7:00[am], plowed through beaucoup snow to Sunset View, where Mom got up and gave me my breakfast. Needless to say, I immediately headed for the sack and died there until noon.”
Otter Lake ski trip challenges
A bigger deal was bringing Mom to meet Dad’s folks, Wm. Ray and Mary (Owen) Charboneau, because their winter cottage behind the Otter Lake Hotel didn’t have the right set-up for a co-ed stay.
Dad was a good skier, so he decided that organizing a ski trip to Otter Lake involving several guys and gals from college – Mom among them – was the best option to get her parents’ approval. Here’s how Dad described it when I interviewed him in 2003:
“The plan was to have your mother and the other women stay in an approved home in Boonville, while the guys would bunk in with my parents,” Dad said. “All that was needed was permission for the arrangement from the gals’ parents. Problem was, your grandparents agreed right away, but it took forever to get the other women’s parents to give the okay.”
A splendid weekend
Finally, though, all the parents signed off and the ski weekend went splendidly – so well that Mom later described Dad’s mother as “the best mother-in-law a woman could have.”
After my parents got engaged in 1948, Mom’s folks traveled to Otter Lake to meet Dad’s parents. They had lunch at a restaurant run by my paternal grandfather’s brother Orville (Tom) Charboneau – a meal whose groundwork was partly laid by that fateful Otter Lake ski trip the year before!
Up next, T is for Tenth Blogiversary: Kudos gladly accepted! Please stop back! Meanwhile, please visit the other Awww Monday bloggers using the link below.
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© 2024 Molly Charboneau. All rights reserved.
A very sweet story! And to hear it in your Dad’s own words makes it even more special.
Yep, Dad’s letter and his later description of the ski weekend really bring this story alive.
Sweet story, a wonderful family memory. Anybody still ski in your family?
I never skied — I was an ice skater. But my younger brothers and sister had ski lessons, and in retirement my parents took up cross-country skiing (a change from the downhill skiing of their college days).
Love these posts that really give a glimpse into you parents lives and times! Yes, I’d say with that looooong trip, he rally did like your mom! 😉
Right? Dad’s description of the overnight train trip is priceless!
This is a great story. I love how you folded in artifacts, photos, oral history, and letters. Nice!
Thanks, Nancy — so happy that my parents carefully saved so much.
Fascinating photos and post about your parents ~ thanks,
Wishing you good health, laughter and love in your days,
A ShutterBug Explores ~
aka (A Creative Harbor)
Thanks so much for your visit!
Some things we go through are worth it. This is one of them. Your parents were most good looking. What a lovely post.
Thank you for joining the Awww Mondays Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Awww Monday and week. ♥
Thank you. Yes, what we did for love 🙂
Sounds like your father had an awful train trip, but it was worth it.
Sure was!