Grammy and I have a blast watching you play hockey.   You’ve improved so much season to season it’s amazing to think back to the early days when your Dad made a rink in Somersworth (at your first house) and laced up your first pair of skates.

So much progress, so incredible seeing your skill set and confidence continue to grow.

Moving up to the Bantam this year was another step forward with the introduction of checking.  I never played hockey, so I can only imagine the difference. Until this year there was no intentional physical contact; now coaches are teaching their players the fine art of fore-checking and back-checking.

There’s a noticeable difference as all the teams adjust, with some players more aggressive and others still trying to figure it out.  You’ve played a few games this season where you were one-on-one with a couple serious giants who looked like they were 6ft.5 inches. Grammy and I were a nervous wreck.  You didn’t let them get the best of you!

You’ve had a great season -playing in two leagues, the Seacoast and Granite State, making big plays in both. You scored twice in the Seacoast championship game, including the game winner in sudden death overtime.  While you didn’t win the Granite State league, you lost to the two best teams.  Proud of you Camden!

This season you’ve become the go-to-guy for the majority of face-offs during a game.  Hot-damn!

This happened because you paid attention, learned how to do it and care about beating your opponent. You win the vast majority of face-offs now as you play different teams across two leagues.

Look at your eyes in the photo above – you’re locked into the ref’s eyes – your counterpart  isn’t even paying attention.  You’re looking for signals… the ref’s eyes, the hand holding the puck… tiny signals that give you the edge in terms of when he makes the drop.

It’s cool seeing you improve, using that great brain to your (and your team’s) advantage.

We’ll always remember Christmas week 2018.

100-year old “Great Gram” was admitted to the hospital on Sunday, Dec. 23 with congestive heart failure.  Her condition kept getting worse as she needed more and more oxygen to breath.  Her four daughters (Grammy, Marcia, Brenda and Nancy) and two son-in-laws (Conrad and me) spent our days at the hospital, supporting each other and Great Gram.  At one point she told your Grammy, “I made a mess of everything,” meaning ruining our Christmas holidays.  Grammy reassured her and quickly shifted the conversation. It was no time for regrets.

On Christmas Day, Grammy and I spent the morning with her; she was steadily losing ground. That afternoon we went to the Clickman’s for an enjoyable afternoon together and a delicious meal of grilled steaks. The Beaupre’s were in Maine on Dec. 25, so our usual big group get together – all 13 of us – didn’t happen that day.  We weren’t exactly sure when it would.

I helped Jack build some tunnels for his new train track.  After dinner, we all played a fun Meme game, laughing our heads off as we tried to match the funniest expression with each picture. Some of those expressions were dirty!!

On December 26, Grammy and I were at the hospital from 9 am to 5pm, as were others.  This turned out to be her last full day on this earth.  That afternoon, when her hospital room was filled with visitors, she made an incredible rally.  She had been very “out of it,” not awake and not aware. Suddenly she woke up and spoke – she needed to go to the bathroom. The nurse helped her and in the process, Great Gram became more alert. Then she said amazing things:

(to Grammy at that moment) “My hair must be a mess and I don’t have my makeup with me.”  (as she gazed around the room at all her visitors).

Then, suddenly, on her own, she sat up in her hospital bed, looked about at her family (who were dumbfounded at that moment) and said “All this attention,” shaking her head. She never liked attention!

Marcia, her oldest daughter, tenderly said “Mom, do you know who some of these people are?”  “Of course I do!!” she instantly shot back, a bit perturbed she had been asked such an obvious question.  It was classic Great Gram.

A bit later, as she quietly looked around the room in amazement she said, “I’m very lucky.”

Then, “Everyone’s taller and older.”

Later, “I’m okay.”

That final rally was a gift, a special goodbye, a moment we’ll cherish.  Soon after, Great Gram closed her eyes, laid back down in her bed and re-entered the solitary place she needed to be to complete her final journey.

That night all 13 of us got together at our house. Grammy had a feeling this would be our best shot to celebrate Christmas. She was right.  We watched you open your presents; we laughed and had lots of fun, then ate pizza together.  There’s nothing better than being together, even when situations change and routines become different.

Thursday, December 27 was Great Gram’s final day. I held her hand a long while and each of us in the room said our goodbyes our own special way.  She had never woken up again after her amazing rally the afternoon before.

Late Thursday morning, at the exact moment new people were in her room to transfer her to Hyder House, another facility in Dover, she had made a decision.  As she was taking her last breaths I’m pretty darn sure she was saying to herself, “Now just hold on one minute.  Put the brakes on.  I’m still in charge here! This is my life and I am not going on that stretcher and I’m not going in an ambulance – I never liked ambulances!  I’m not putting anyone through any more fuss. I’m ending it right here, right now. I miss my husband; it’s been 26 years since I saw him.  I want to die in this hospital, just like he did.  It’s my time and I’m okay with that.”

And that’s exactly what she did.  She decided to leave, then and there, on her own terms. Her last minute timing was a classic move for Etta Gwendolyn Buzzell St. Laurent.  She was the matriarch of the family; she had always led the way; and now she was calling the last shot.

100 years. 2 months. 27 days on this earth. Not too shabby.

Great Gram lived a simple life, defined by one thing: family.  Nothing else ever mattered as much as that.  Her daughters and husband meant the world to her, as did her sisters and brothers who she took care of, protected and guided (as the first born of her siblings). As time went by, this “nucleus” kept expanding with son-in-laws, grandchildren (12) and great grandchildren.

Nothing made her happier than remembering a funny story about your parents (Tim and Nicole) from years ago or hearing a story from Grammy about something you (Ben, Emma, Camden, Ainsley, Molly, Jack and Madigan) had said or done recently.  Those stories always brought a smile to her face and a hearty laugh.  She lived for those moments!

She looked forward to your visits, got a kick out of the things you said and enjoyed hearing what you were doing as you grew older.  Did you know she kept pictures you (and other great grandhildren) had drawn for her in a special book in her room at Harmony?  The special memories you created for her were her only remaining treasures, along with a few pieces of jewelry.  She loved you so much.

Later that night after everyone had left our house (many people came over to be together after she died, get a bite to eat and support each other) Grammy and I remembered a special visit we had with her at Harmony House on November 21, before Thanksgiving, She was sitting in her chair doing okay; it was just the three of us.  We had been talking about what Thanksgiving was like when she was little.  She said “We never had much. The Baptist Church down the street would look out for us and bring us food.” 

Later she said, “I never was one for show.  Be me. Take me as I am.”   I love that quote because it sums up her life’s philosophy, her style, values and entire life.

We’ll miss you Ma/Mom/Great Gram, but please, no more tears, just smiles. That’s what she would tell us if she was with us right now.  She lived a wonderful life, taught us many things, helped many along the way and is in a very good place.

The photo below is special.  I took it on June 22, 2004 at Tim & Tarah’s wedding in Portland, Maine.  It was always my favorite of her; so beautiful, so much joy, such a classy lady.  Much love, thank you and God bless.

I’ve often wondered about the roots of Beaupre, our surname.  Where did our descendants came from hundreds of years ago?   When were they born?  Where did they live? What did they do for work? How many kids were in each family? How many generations have passed? How did they get to North America and eventually to the U.S.?

Geneology & ancestry research is complicated and takes a LOT of time. I’ve tried doing it over the years, but got frustrated fast.

Imagine my surprise when a childhood friend of mine – Richard LeHoullier from Somersworth – recently handed me an ancestry tree going back to the year 1600!  What a kind and thoughtful gesture.  It must have taken him weeks, months to do all this research.  I’m so lucky to count him as a friend.

Here’s a photo of Richard & me taken in 1967 when we were in 8th grade. (I’m the manly man on the left)

Cool stuff from his research:

• Our family originated from a region in in northern France called Normandy. The earliest descendant he found was born in Fecamp, France within the Pays de Caux region.
• The most astounding thing he discovered is that our descendants weren’t always Beaupre’s!  Our original surname was Bonhomme, which means “good man” in French.
• The first documented ancestor was Nicolas Bonhomme, born about 1600 in Fecamp, Normandy.
• The “pioneer ancestor” was his son, also named Nicolas, who emigratred to “new France,” later named Quebec, Canada, where he married Catherine Gouget around 1640.   She was a “Fille du Roi” from Normandie, France, aka a “King’s Daughter,” shipped from France to New France.  They married the pioneers and soliders to develop a French society there.
• Our first descendant to use the Beaupre name was Louis-Claude Beaupre, born in 1722.  He had five children.
• Camden, you’re the 12th generation of documented Beaupre’s.   If you include the four generations of Bonhomme’s before Louis took the name Beaupre, then you’re the 16th generation of documented ancestors.

When I explained all this in my office the other day, I showed you the ancestry chart and explained how it worked.  I was sitting at my desk, you were a foot away. You were into the conversation from the start, excited and stopped me halfway saying:

“When I started taking French last year, we had to pick a name that wasn’t our own name.  Guess which name I picked?  Louis!” You repeated it, “LOUIS!”  laughing, eyes sparkling.  “Out of all the names I could have picked, I picked the name of our descendant who first took the Beaupre name! That’s unbelievable!”  

We were laughing, shaking our heads in disbelief.  I couldn’t believe it.

I said “Talk about karma!  That didn’t happen by accident.  I’ve always believed forces we never see are with us, observing, sometimes shaping our lives.  Camden, that force was Louis-Claude Beaupre, connecting with you across 12 generations in the moment you chose your new name. It had to be that!”

You agreed, still smiling.

“Louis” is alive and well, the original and the new.  How cool is that?

Thanks Richard, for making this special moment possible, I’ll never forget it!

Soon after September 28 dawned, I got a text from you asking if we could spend the day together.  I was surprised and happy – but a bit perplexed – because it was a school day.

Were you feeling a little under the weather, not quite ready for a day of school? Were you skipping school to celebrate your birthday?  I checked with your Mom and she said you just felt like doing something with me.  How cool is that? I’m the luckiest grandfather aka Papa in the world.  You made my day!

I had my annual physical, a haircut and two car registrations scheduled that morning, so I told your Mom I’d pick you up at Noon at school where you’d hang out a few hours.  The “party line” was that you had a doctor’s appointment and I was bringing you – that was the secret code word for “get me out of here.”

It was a nice September day so I put the top down on the Porsche and we began our adventure.  We did some cool things including:

• lunch at RiverBend – I asked what you wanted to eat on your birthday and this topped your list.  We ate yummy subs inside.
• Licky & Chewy’s – the owner took our photo together, we bought candy and drank chocolate shakes, a love we both share
• Hilltop fun Center – we competed on the go cart track, played arcade games and did our patented crazy backward “up the tube” shots at mini golf (we were the only ones on the course!)
• a quick visit to the hospital where “Great Gram” had been admitted on Monday for congestive heart failure
• Flatbread with your family at dinner to formally celebrate your 13th birthday

Fantastic day!  You got to skip hours of school and I got to spend the afternoon and evening with my incredible grandson.  Thanks again for inviting me – we should do this every year including when you’re in college!!