The firstborn to Evariste and Elisa Poulin, Florence grew up steeped in family devotion and humility.
Her life, however, took a radical turn when returning home from the village religious campus, the orphanage associated with the Sisters of Charity of Quebec, known as the Gray Nuns, Florence arrived back in her home from an arduous teaching assignment, ready to say her good-byes, when her mother died twenty-five days after birthing a son.
It was farewell to the religious life that Florence so wished for.
Gone were her hopes to live a life of piety and seclusion from the world.
Gone were her dreams of serving God in the most sacrificial ways.
Overnight, she was now thrust into the position of raising her own siblings.