would be great to have a guest. But I didn’t want to look sporadic at school or irresponsible at work.
“Um, I can try to work it out”. I tried to sound hopeful and enthusiastic. “I don’t get out of school until noon on Friday”.
“I was in the military for years, honey. I can take a train from the airport and meet you. Or rent a car”.
“Sure, Dad. You know, I live in a pretty small village. There’s not a lot to do”.
“I’m not coming to do. I’m coming to visit and make sure you’re okay,” he said.
Still, I felt there was something else behind his sudden desire to visit me.
“Do you want to sightsee in Paris?” I asked.
“Nah, Paris isn’t for me,” he said. “But I was wondering … well, you said you had a friend from Normandy and that it wasn’t too far away. I thought, you know, maybe if you had the time, we could visit the beaches where the troops landed on D-Day”.
He tried hard to not betray it, but I could hear the boyish eagerness in his voice. He was a lifelong marine and a military history buff. He’d made my dream come true by buying my plane ticket to France. Somehow I had to help make his dream come true too.
“Sure, Dad. E-mail the details to me, and we’ll figure it out”. Would Maman even let me take some days off? Well, why not? I hadn’t done so since I’d been here. It
had
to be okay.
“Dad,” I said. “There’s one thing I’d like you to bring me. Mom can help you find it”.
I told him, though I know he was confused by the request. That was okay. I knew what I was doing.
I woke up early the next morning and got dressed. Then I sat at my kitchen table and opened my Bible.
Alone, I sang praise songs—quietly, so as not to freak out Maman if she happened to hear through the open windows. I could imagine her eyebrows waggling over the American singing to herself, unaccompanied.
I prayed and read John 7 and 8. I grinned. Another food analogy.
“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink”.
I prayed out loud, conversationally, as I got ready for work. “So, Lord, is it because I’ve never really let myself get parched, always able to satisfy myself with the good gifts You’d given me, that I haven’t had a thirst for
You?”
It occurred to me that, in that way, I was much more French than I thought. I included God when it was convenient or cultural.
I heard nothing back as I put on my uniform and slipped on my shoes, but I didn’t mind. On the way out, I wrote the proverb Anne had shared with me on my chalkboard.
Hunger savors
every dish .
I got to work just on time, and Maman was already there.
“I got a phone call this morning. One of the bread bakers has quit—
pouf!
—just like that. So I will take over the bread, and you will make the sables and the mousse au chocolat for me in the pastry area. Philippe will send someone over from Rambouillet if we need them, but he’s short-staffed since Patricia has gone off like some crazy teenager chasing a boy”.
I grinned at the description, but inside, I was worried. If everyone was short-staffed, how could I leave for three days? And yet, I had to ask for the time off today so Maman would have warning.
I made the mousse au chocolat and shook cocoa powder over each one. No one asked me to help with the bread, which was fine. I was inexperienced and, honestly, not truly gifted in that area. I hoped my brioche turned out all right at Rambouillet. I wondered if Philippe would say anything about it.
I wondered if I’d see him today.
I spent the day on my own, keeping everything clean and taking care of a small cookie order. Near noon, the end of my shift since the bakery closed early on Sundays, I approached Maman. She seemed to have everything under control, so maybe this would be a good time.
“May I speak to you?” I asked.
“Bien,”
Maman said. “What is it, Lexi?”
“Well, I had a surprising phone call yesterday,” I started. “My father called to tell me that
“Um, I can try to work it out”. I tried to sound hopeful and enthusiastic. “I don’t get out of school until noon on Friday”.
“I was in the military for years, honey. I can take a train from the airport and meet you. Or rent a car”.
“Sure, Dad. You know, I live in a pretty small village. There’s not a lot to do”.
“I’m not coming to do. I’m coming to visit and make sure you’re okay,” he said.
Still, I felt there was something else behind his sudden desire to visit me.
“Do you want to sightsee in Paris?” I asked.
“Nah, Paris isn’t for me,” he said. “But I was wondering … well, you said you had a friend from Normandy and that it wasn’t too far away. I thought, you know, maybe if you had the time, we could visit the beaches where the troops landed on D-Day”.
He tried hard to not betray it, but I could hear the boyish eagerness in his voice. He was a lifelong marine and a military history buff. He’d made my dream come true by buying my plane ticket to France. Somehow I had to help make his dream come true too.
“Sure, Dad. E-mail the details to me, and we’ll figure it out”. Would Maman even let me take some days off? Well, why not? I hadn’t done so since I’d been here. It
had
to be okay.
“Dad,” I said. “There’s one thing I’d like you to bring me. Mom can help you find it”.
I told him, though I know he was confused by the request. That was okay. I knew what I was doing.
I woke up early the next morning and got dressed. Then I sat at my kitchen table and opened my Bible.
Alone, I sang praise songs—quietly, so as not to freak out Maman if she happened to hear through the open windows. I could imagine her eyebrows waggling over the American singing to herself, unaccompanied.
I prayed and read John 7 and 8. I grinned. Another food analogy.
“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink”.
I prayed out loud, conversationally, as I got ready for work. “So, Lord, is it because I’ve never really let myself get parched, always able to satisfy myself with the good gifts You’d given me, that I haven’t had a thirst for
You?”
It occurred to me that, in that way, I was much more French than I thought. I included God when it was convenient or cultural.
I heard nothing back as I put on my uniform and slipped on my shoes, but I didn’t mind. On the way out, I wrote the proverb Anne had shared with me on my chalkboard.
Hunger savors
every dish .
I got to work just on time, and Maman was already there.
“I got a phone call this morning. One of the bread bakers has quit—
pouf!
—just like that. So I will take over the bread, and you will make the sables and the mousse au chocolat for me in the pastry area. Philippe will send someone over from Rambouillet if we need them, but he’s short-staffed since Patricia has gone off like some crazy teenager chasing a boy”.
I grinned at the description, but inside, I was worried. If everyone was short-staffed, how could I leave for three days? And yet, I had to ask for the time off today so Maman would have warning.
I made the mousse au chocolat and shook cocoa powder over each one. No one asked me to help with the bread, which was fine. I was inexperienced and, honestly, not truly gifted in that area. I hoped my brioche turned out all right at Rambouillet. I wondered if Philippe would say anything about it.
I wondered if I’d see him today.
I spent the day on my own, keeping everything clean and taking care of a small cookie order. Near noon, the end of my shift since the bakery closed early on Sundays, I approached Maman. She seemed to have everything under control, so maybe this would be a good time.
“May I speak to you?” I asked.
“Bien,”
Maman said. “What is it, Lexi?”
“Well, I had a surprising phone call yesterday,” I started. “My father called to tell me that
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