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Sharing Memories and Traveling Time with Madeleine Neuhoff

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Tuesday July 15, 2008

By Cookie Steponaitis

    If you think time travel is science fiction or a theme best expressed in George Orwell's novel The Time Machine you have obviously never sat down at a luncheon with guests where the average age is over ninety. The ability for these strong and intriguing individuals to “skip” through decades and presidents is easier than singing a musical scale. They have not only lived and experienced life through these eventful decades in American history; they also have strong views on America today and wonderful memories to share.

   Madeleine Malzac Neuhoff was born in Quebec on January 3, 1913 and came to America at the age of sixteen looking for adventure. She was anxious to, “…see what was in those USA.” Born toward the last into a family of ten siblings, Madeleine's mother died when she was only seven, resulting in a major shift in the household. “At first,” she recalled, “we younger girls took over the running of the household with the help of an aunt who lived a few miles away. I had two younger sisters that were my responsibility and that included all meals, laundry, and housework. But soon it became apparent that the ten of us were too much for my father to handle alone, so the rest of the girls and I were sent off to the convent and were raised by the nuns.”

    Coming to Vermont seemed destined as she followed several of her older brothers over the border into America. “When I arrived,” she commented, “I spoke no English at all, but by the end of my first day here I had a job and began to make my own way.” Her own way has taken Madeleine from Vermont to Chicago to Florida and back across the country several times in her lifetime. Her careers have included sales, fashion, telephone operators, hostess, entertainer and astrologist. “I've traveled a couple of thousand different roads,” she remarked, “and they all were an experience.”

    Amidst the questions and laughter of the luncheon and a few choruses of the song, “Don't sit under the apple tree with anyone else, but me, till I come marching home” it is easy to see how Madeleine was able to see and do so much in her life.” She recollects that, “Chicago was an incredible city in the 1940's. There were so many places to work, things to see and people to meet. I always saw life as a voyage and myself as a traveler. In French, we call that a 'voyageur.' While I was there I really learned a great deal about the fashion industry and the work of seamstresses. It was a skill that would carry me in good stead the rest of my life.”

    At this point in the journey down memory lane, her friend of 65 years Irene Thomas breaks into the conversation. “She could do a lot more than sew,” Irene recalls. “When we were sharing a dorm room together at the University of Vermont (UVM) we were asked out on a date to an important function. Neither one of us had any outfit that was fancy enough, so Mado just made us suits. In one afternoon she designed a pattern, measured us both, created outfits that were out of current fashion magazines and we went out, dressed in style.” Madeleine responds with a chuckle and some wisdom for any time as she commented, “You just had to have a passion for people and a passion for life. I so loved living mine.”

   Besides connecting with her family and friends, Madeleine was continually drawn to Vermont time and time again in her life. She spoke at length about her deep love of this state and the love of the green mountains and lakes. There was also closeness to the land, nature and a lifestyle which she found important. A devoted believer in work, exercise and a diet rich in the plants, herbs and nutrients of the earth, Madeleine attributes her longevity to knowing the bounties the land had to offer. “My dad was a chef,” she recounts, “and in edition to a love of music, he shared with me knowledge of plants, herbs and remedies I still live by today.” Living on her own and driving her own car until a stroke this past January, Madeleine will be 96 on her next birthday and continues to watch with interest the world events and especially politics.

   “This is going to be a critical election in history and not for the reasons of race or skin color,” she stated. “Both sides are working so hard to discredit each other that they are not seeing the issues and the real needs of the people. Americans, of any generation, need to remember that the first three words of the U.S. Constitution are not in large print for no reason. “We the People,” is what the nation is truly about. When the country looks with honesty at the issues facing it and shows the same willingness to work together that got America through the events of this century, then and only then will progress be made.” She went on to comment that while she had mostly voted on the democratic ticket most of her life the most important fact was that she voted in every election she has been alive for. “I want young people to know, she stated, that they need to look beyond the surface gloss of the television image of politics. Research, discuss, debate and learn the characters of the people involved. What you see is not always what you will get.”

   As the afternoon drew to a close and the topics began to focus on current events in 2008, I realized that the conversations had spanned eighty years of American history and a time that had seen more change than any other generation before or since. I told Madeleine I wanted to take her picture to accompany the article in the paper and she winced and said, “Why don't you give them one of the first color pictures ever taken in America, because I was in it. I used to sell those you know, and your father worked for me as a salesman. That was how your father met your mother, but now that is a story for another time.”

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