They say it’s the little touches that matter the most. Those that cost little money, but are benevolent and heart-warming. For Christmas, school crossing guard Paule Renaud spent around 100 hours making nearly 60 personalized greeting cards for the children she takes across the street every day. A little attention that made many happy.
On his Christmas card, Jérémi is wearing his hockey clothes, smiling. He has his stick in his right hand, a detail that is not unimportant. Paule Renaud, the 10-year-old boy’s brigadier, left nothing to chance. Some time before the holiday break, she asked Jeremy which side he was holding his hockey stick. He didn’t know it at the time, but it was so that the drawing on the card that she was going to make resemble him as much as possible.
“I try to ensure that the child can recognize himself at least a little, says Mme Renaud, on the line, the day after Christmas. These are not portraits, but such a child wears a coat of such a color or such boots or such a haircut. Some of them I knew played hockey and I had two goalies, including Jérémi. So I had fun. »
This is the second time that the crossing guard has made Christmas cards for the children of the Plateau-Mont-Royal school, whom she sees throughout the school year. Last year, she had made 30. “It did me what for the children to whom I had not given,” she says.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Brigadier Paule Renaud
I started at the end of November [l’an dernier]but this year, I started at the beginning of November and I did 58. It’s still a little short, but I did my best.
Paule Renaud, brigadier
His gesture brings him nothing but smiles, and that’s more than enough for him. “I wanted to give them a little something, a little souvenir of me. A smile in her voice, looking touched, she says that one of the children, “so happy”, took her by the hands and thanked her. Parents also tell him that their children were very touched.
Fun and Memories
Born into a family of artists, designer by profession, Paule Renaud worked in technical drawing in an engineering firm as well as a few years in cartooning. It was thus equipped with her pencil that she could best “please the children”.
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PHOTO PROVIDED BY PAULE RENAUD
The map created for Jeremy
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PHOTO PROVIDED BY PAULE RENAUD
Dozens of cards made by Paule Renaud
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These children, she rubs shoulders with them for a few years now, because there was a lack of work in her field and when she saw the prerequisites for the job of crossing guard, she was immediately challenged. “It required loving being outside and loving children,” says Paule Renaud. Me, I don’t have children, but they bring me a lot. I learn a lot with them. »
They too benefit from having such a caring crossing guard. Jérémi, the little hockey player, says he found the attention of Mr.me Renaud “really brilliant”.
In addition to being a brigadier, it is still a difficult job. To make cards for all the children who pass around the corner of his street, it’s really very nice.
Jeremy, child who received a card
Several children in his class also have their card. “It’s really personalized in every detail,” says Jérémi. It’s very beautiful drawings and there is also a beautiful word inside. »
Because Paule Renaud was not content to draw maps, which each took two to three hours to make. She also wrote a personal message for each child (or siblings) to wish them happy holidays.
Even if “the children just pass” through her intersection, she cares about them. “We say hello and a few words, that’s all,” she said. There are some that I know more than others, but I don’t know them that much. And I’m quite a shy person by nature, so it’s not easy for me to have a great conversation with them. »
She still put a lot of heart into making the cards. On each of them, the children wear white scarves, to make them look like “little angels”, says Paule Renaud. “I also do it for fun and to remember them and them,” she adds. I like to see them happy, it’s part of my income as a crossing guard! »