My Auntie Helene

When I think back over my life, I can easily name several women who each played a significant role in who I have become today. My own mom, my second mom, Renee, my Nana, my Aunt Rita, and my Aunt Virginia are just a few of these influential women. And my mom's father's sister, also known as my Auntie Helene, is definitely in that list. Even though I didn't get to spend a large amount of time with her (she lived in NJ and Chile during my lifetime), the days that we spent together were extremely special.

While cleaning out our basement (which is a seemingly never-ending task), I found a paper that I wrote about my Auntie Helene for my high school english class. When I read it, my mind was flooded with magical memories of my time with her. I decided to post the essay here for a few reasons: (1) because I want to always have it and (2) because I wanted to have an excuse to post some pictures I have of her from our wedding on our blog (our wedding was the last time I saw my Auntie Helene in person). So, here goes.

I wrote this essay on February 15, 1999 for my Junior year high school English class. The assignment was to tell the life story of a person you admire. Enjoy.

Adoration. That is the word I use to describe my feelings toward my Great Aunt Helene. My mother's father's sister, my great aunt, is one of the most amazing individuals I have ever met. She is open to anything and always speaks her mind. Her adventurous life has brought her many stories to tell. She tells her fascinating stories whenever she has an audience. She cares about everyone around her, especially her family. She has a colorful character that shines through her beautiful personality.

In 1924, Helene Jubien was born in New York City. Helene, her mother, Helen Jubien, and her father, Walter Jubien, Sr., moved to Westchester, New York shortly after Helene was born. Two years later, Walter Louis Jubien (my grandfather) was born. When Helene was 5 or 6, her family moved to a corner apartment on 67th Street and Madison Avenue in New York City. They lived there for a few years and then moved to Jackson Heights in Queens, New York. For her education, she went to two Catholic all-girls schools. She attended Dominican Academy elementary school and Cathedral high school. She studied French all through her education in connection with her French heritage. She went to Barnett College for a year and a half before she decided to go to Washington, D.C. and work with her father at the French Mission.

Some of Helene's fondest childhood memories recall an affluent lifestyle, singing Irish songs with her mother, going for long walks with her father all over New York City, and swimming in the Hudson River. She grew up during the Great depression and World War II and survived them both well.

Teenage years brought many happy times for Helene and her brother as they danced when "Swing was King" and sang that "Jazz Thing" in New York clubs and ballrooms. Helene remembers being a screaming young girl for "Old Blue Eyes," Frank Sinatra, as he and many other stars of the time got their start in the Big Apple.

Helene had three fiances, but she only married her fourth, Willie Meyer. At age 20, she met Willie, who was 31, at a party. She didn't like him at first, but at 22, they were married. Her father attended the wedding, but her mother could not because she was still in the army. Three months later, Willie told Helene that he had to go to Berlin, Germany to work for the International Committee of the Red Cross. She told him that same day that she was pregnant. Helene's father didn't want the baby to be born in Germany, so Helene went to live with her mother-in-law, whom she had never met, in Zurick, Switzerland, while Willie worked in Berlin. She hated being away from Willie, so she went to Berlin and had their first child in an American hospital there.

Her first of six children was born in 1947 in Berlin, Germany. They named him Christopher. They lived in Berlin for six years. In that time period, they had two more children. Eighteen months after Christopher, Helen and Willie had Adrienne. Eighteen months after Adrienne, Stephanie was born. Helene's mother came to visit when Stephanie was born. In 1951, they moved to Paris. In 1952, Helene had twin boys, Andrew and George. Her last child, Caroline, was born in 1960 in an American hospital in Paris. 

Christopher studied to be an actor. He went to the American College in Paris for two years and then he went to a mime school for two more years. Adrienne and Stephanie both graduated from French Lycee. They later went on to college at Colorado State University. George went to prep school in Colorado and then another prep school in Geneva. He attended college in California. Caroline went to India and attended a private school there.

My Auntie Helene and Uncle Ernie

In 1966, they moved to Senegal because of Willie's job as a United Nations Ambassador for Children and they lived there for two years. In her marriage to Willie, she met many important diplomats and international people. Willie became very ill in 1968. While Helene took care of him, she sent Caroline to Paris to stay with some of her friends. Several months later, Willie died of cancer. Helene and Caroline then moved to Geneva, Switzerland. In 1970, Helene bought an old farm in the Jura Mountains. She also joined a governmental women's organization. She went back to New York to visit and help her parents in 1975, when she attended my own parents' wedding. While in the states, she met a man named Ernest Shapiro who had three children from a previous marriage. He proposed to Helene in 1976. Helene sold her farm and moved to New Jersey.

Helene and Ernie have been together in New Jersey ever since. Helene's children now have had families of their own and they live at different ends of the world. Her children live in Austrailia, Chile, France, Vermont, and the twins live in California. She visits her children whenever she can. If she isn't seeing them, she's talking to them on the phone. She has six children, three step-children, thirteen grandchildren with one on the way, one step-grandchild, two nephews, one niece, and three great nieces. 

Today, Helene loves to cook and eat gourmet food, listen and dance to great jazz, go to the theater, and she takes great delight in sunrises and sunsets at home and abroad with her love, my Uncle Ernie. She just turned 75 years old and I'd say that she's pretty cool.

My Auntie Helene and Uncle Ernie

My Great Aunt Helene is one of the most interesting individuals I have ever met. I love listening to her talk about her life experiences with such excitement and about her travels around the world. She truly is a class act, is independent, and she stands up for what she believes in. She has taught me to try everything because you don't know if you'll have the opportunity again. She also taught me to be open to others' opinions and to never be close-minded. She has influenced every part of my life in every way possible. I'm very lucky to be related to such a wonderful woman.

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I wrote this essay after a long phone conversation with my Auntie Helene. Since 1999, she and Ernie sold their home in NJ and moved to Chile to live with Helene's daughter. Sadly, my Uncle Ernie passed away in 2011 and my Auntie Helene passed away in 2012 while living in Chile. I will always remember their deep love for one another, their excitement over seemingly insignificant things, and their unique personalities that kept everyone interested in what they had to say. Even though they never met our children, they definitely knew about them through our phone conversations and from reading this blog. I miss them both.