Fourth of July Memories

My grandparents were married at the start of WWII, and shortly afterwards they gave birth to my mother in 1942. They lived in Detroit (originally both from Poland) at the time, and my grandfather played baseball for a semiprofesstional team. Soon he actually had two offers of interest from two professional teams. This was all put on hold when he made the decision to enlist and go overseas to join the numerous American soldiers fighting. He left behind my grandmother, and my mother who was two years old at the time. In December of 1944 as the war was getting closer to the end, my grandfather was killed east of Metz, France close to the German border. At first my grandmother was notified that he was missing and presumed to be dead, but it was several months before she could be at peace with the actual knowledge that his body was finally found. My grandfather was buried in St. Avold France.

The picture up top left was taken when my grandfather's brother visited his grave in France shortly after the war ended. You can see the fresh dirt that covered the cemetary with footprints in the soil - so new that even grass hadn't grown yet. The one on the top right is of my grandparents and my mom here in Detroit prior to him leaving for the military. When my grandmother gave me these pictures years ago, they were already old and crinkled, so the quality is not the best - but they're something I'll always treasure. After my grandfather's death, my grandma worked three jobs and raised my mother on her own for several years. With so many others doing the same - it's no wonder they've been nicknamed the "Greatest Generation."

My grandmother has been over to France to visit his grave a couple of times when she was younger. She is now close to 90, and doesn't make many trips other than to church or out to eat. Something that I always wanted to do growing up was to visit my grandfather's grave at the American Cemetary in St. Avold. So last fall, my husband and I booked a three week trip to France and one of our stops was St. Avold. To say it was one of the most moving experiences of my life would be an understatement. Were there was once dirt and the footprints of soldiers like my great uncle in the top photo is now green grass, trees, and a chapel. The cemetery has thousands of American soldiers buried there that died in WWII, the grounds are impecable, and it is run solely by the American government even though it is located in France. Staff from the cemetary meet you at the train station (St. Avold is super tiny with not a lot of taxis), take you on a tour of the cemetary to your loved one's grave, help you with lunch arrangements, and help you catch your train ride out later that day.

Here are a few pictures from the cemetary. The man from the army helping us locate the grave helped my grandfather's name show up on the marker for our picuture. Because the crosses are so smooth and all white, the name won't appear in pictures taken. So the military men working at the cemetary put actual sand from the beaches of Normandy that they keep on site, over the name so it will temporarily be visible for a photo. I thought that was the coolest idea, and was very symbolic as well.


We had a really nice trip and although we rented an apartment in France for three weeks, the time flew by. I do have to admit it was nice to get home to see our little dog that my parents watched for us and took great care of!
(we were traveling just the two of us, so my husband got better each day at holding the camera out in front of us and blindly taking photos of the two of us. That's why his arm is in a lot of pictures. We took over 600 photos, but here's just a few.)

Some pictures from the Tuileris Gardens:





We took a few boat ride tours on the Seine - windy hair days :-)

We tried to walk somewhere new to dinner each night - definitely got a lot of exercise!


Church where much of the DaVinci Code was filmed (where the line lights up)



After the Da Vinci movie and book, alterations were made to the actual church structure and that are over a hundred years old- wiped out - kinda crazy!

One day we climbed to the top of the church Sacre Couer and the sky was all windy and stormy with different layers of colors.


On the major holidays my husband and I have flowers sent to be placed on my grandfather's grave. Someday, we'll return again to visit - this time with our little Spot once they get old enough to make the plane ride. I think it's important to show the next generation in our family the sacrifies that their relatives made for them. I wish I could have met my grandfather, I would just like to give him a hug and say a simple, "thanks." This weekend on the fourth of July, I'll remember all of those who made that similar sacrifice. I hope that everyone will take the time to thank someone serving our country as well as the thousands who already have.