Lessons and Memories

Claudette Andree Turcotte Burque was born into a Franco-Canadian family living about an hour north of Montreal, Quebec. The family moved to Massachusetts when she was in elementary school. After graduating from Rivier College, Nashua, NH, she married her husband, Rene. They raised four children in their almost 50 years together. During that time, she completed work on a Master of Arts in Teaching as well as a Master of Arts in Applied Theology with a specialization in Religious Education. Currently, she is active in her church family, facilitating bible studies; in the Columbus, GA, Lifelong Learning group (CALL); and in quilting-related activities. She especially treasures time spent visiting eleven grandchildren scattered from coast to coast. Writing about her faith and family life has been a lifelong hobby as well as a requirement for some of her career-related work such as Director of Religious Education and free-lance writer. She remembers the long-ago summers spent on her grandparents' farm writing anectodal experiences on cut-open brown wrapping paper with a pencil as the only tools available. Since the 1990's she has had several articles published in Catholic periodicals. Some of these are included in this collection. This book was created to share with others teachable moments experienced during her busy lifetime. In so doing, she hopes to lighten and brighten the experience of others' lives.