(Reader portrait 4/7): Arlette and Jacky “We have always been surrounded by young people”

Arlette: I’ve always seen Le Pèlerin at my parents’ house, in the house I live in today with Jacky, in Salasc, a village of 350 inhabitants near Lake Salagou. In turn, I bought the newspaper on newsstands for a long time before subscribing.

Jackie: And I fell in love with the Salasc fountain at the same time as Arlette! We got engaged in May 1968. I was a carpenter, and Arlette worked in private schools in Clermont-l’Hérault, as a supervisor, then as a childminder.

AT.: Without children, we have always been surrounded by young people. I did catechism for fifty years, Jacky prepared a few hundred teenagers for the profession of faith, not to mention our nephews and their children whom we visit, even if they are far away.

J.: Curiosity and friendship pushed us to open our horizons. With a group of friends, we traveled: Mexico, Vietnam, Russia, China, Rome, Majorca… and were able to better taste the freedom of speech we enjoy in France.

AT.: Everyday relationships matter to us. Jacky served four terms in the municipal team, and gives various helping hands to neighbors. With a friend, I welcome Salascois to our library.

J.: But since the Covid, we go out less. We only went to the cinema once after the confinements, to see Notre-Dame burns, by Jean-Jacques Annaud. And inflation hits us directly: we now think before we go for miles.

AT.: From this point of view, our Équipe Notre-Dame, for decades, has remained a priority. What we live there has shaped us: to be ourselves, to be true, that’s what we have best to transmit…

J.: And what I wish for the younger generations.”