La Vie De Simone

November 18, 1925 (Avignon, France)  April 5, 2015 - Chico California
 
So this is some of the story of Simone Marie Chabal.  Most of you know her as Simone Olmsted, including her 5 (now 3) children.  Through your direct experience, and through us, you have a very good sense of who she has been the last 50 years or so.  But the mother,  grandmother, wife, teacher and friend that you know was formed by a very interesting history.  This memorial blog focuses on the child and young woman who evolved into the person we knew and loved.

Unlike most blogs, where the latest blog is first, this goes in chronological order.
 

This is a piece (front and back) I commissioned from my friend, the author and artist Jerry W. Marshall, who always does the fronts and back of very unique collages. There are so many layers it would take an entire other blog to do it justice really.  It hangs in my apartment and I pass in 20 times a day. (My mother was a bit overwhelmed by it - like seeing her life flash before eyes -- even thought this was made 20 years ago.)

So to begin at the beginning:

She was born and raised in Avignon, France.

Her parents were Jeanne Hebrard and Marcel Chabal.

They owned and ran a shirt store "La Chemiserie Chabal,"on top of which the family lived.

In 1922,  they had Roger, and 1925, Simone, our mother.

Then came Francoise, in 1936,  A surprise perhaps, but one so joyfully received especially for my mother. Eleven years older, she was as much mother as sister. Certainly, they are two of the closest siblings there have ever been, really.

So now, let's back up a little bit.

MCO 2015

Photos collected by Sandra Moreano and Veronique Perdriolle.
Un grand merci to Francoise Chabal, whose Souvenirs provided much of this blog's source material.