Page 62 - A Life - my Live - my path

Higher education – emotional moment

In June 1971, I graduated as an electronics technician. I had
a secret desire to be able to continue my studies to become a
technical engineer, but in my mind, this was not on the
agenda.
My father, who had worked in the coal mines since 1955,
contracted pleurisy in 1969. He had to stop working, which
earned him a 66% disability pension.
In 1970, an opportunity arose and, with my mother, they
took over the management of the “Café de la Gare” in Piéton.
The café was doing very well. One of the special things about
it was that on Sunday mornings, the mayor, Toni, Gino,
Amed and Mahomed all sat round the same table to play
cards. Older people came because my parents were there
and young people came because I was there. It was a

wonderful time. They handed over the café in 1977, after
running it for seven years.
For my part, this change in our family's lifestyle
prompted me to spend the last six months of my 3rd year at
the IPAM boarding school.

I suppose that after taking over the “Café de la Gare”, my
father considered that our financial means had improved
and that, as a result, he could afford to pay for three more
years of study so that I could get my engineering degree.

In fact, a few days after receiving my technician's diploma,
he called me into the café’s kitchen and said, "So, do you
want to become an engineer?"

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