Today's pictures of D-Day commemorations in France remind me of our own family trip on June 6th, 2002. My American cousin, his wife and two children joined my wife and our two children for a three day visit to Normandy. We stayed in Bayeux and on the anniversary of D-Day itself we visited a number of memorial sites and cemeteries. It was very moving and I hope a real education for the four children who where then aged between 6 and 13.
After a long day (although not as long as the day experienced by those on June 6th, 1944) we retired to a quayside restaurant in Port-en-Bessin. We sat, four adults on one table, four kids on the other, and looked through a menu chock-full of typically French seaside fare. Some time later a veteran, wearing a beret and proudly sporting medals on his blazer, came in with a lady who looked to be the same age and was shown to the table next to our children. As the kids were noisily chatting to each other, I went over to the couple, who weren't talking to each other, to apologise. It was then that I learned of their incredible story.
The man had been a British soldier in World War II. He was a sergeant and he and his men had sought shelter at a farm during the fighting on D-Day. She was the farmer's daughter and had willingly given the soldiers food and drink, making them feel very welcome on that traumatic day. Rested, they left and he never saw her again. In his later life he had told some of his British Legion colleagues about the farmer's daughter and unbeknown to him they did some research and found her. So, for the 2002 D-Day memorial, they arranged a surprise reunion, which included at the end of the day a meal for the two of them in the restaurant that we were eating in. The only flaw in this wonderful plan was that he didn't speak a word of French and she didn't speak English, so they just sat there at the table just looking at each other and smiling. So began a wonderful evening where I used my basic French language skills to act as an interpreter. All of us gathered around the table, eager to hear their stories and do our little part in helping them get to know each other after all that time. I don't remember a thing about what we ate in that restaurant, but I won't ever forget the events of that evening.
