This is my great grandmother Zenaide Columbe. She had 6 children with Oregene Leclerc. She passed away before the time any of them had reached puberty.
My namesake, Oregene's sister Catherine Leclerc stepped in and helped raise them. This is Catherine and my grandfather.
One of the children she helped raise was my grandmother, Clothshide. She hated her name and demanded to be called Claudette until the day she died. Her and my mother never got along and they had their reasons, too. I never really resented her, I just didn't know her. In fact, I only met her once when I was 18 months old.
This is her when she was 18 in Quebec City. That photograph was the first time I've ever felt any personal connection to her. Maybe, just maybe, there's a little bit of her in me.
