- So lively persit the souvenirs of the Parisian epoch of Liz, Bernard, Charles and Doddy ; the pilgrimages to Notre Dame de Chartres in the steps of Charles Péguy.
- The wedding of Liz and Bernard in the family house, the ‘Sun Trap’ at Storington, where I was dubbed best man ;
- From Queens NY, the exploration and discovery by car of the beauty of Long Island, which was to become the retreat of the family ;
- My numerous stays in Bellport welcoming home during my fellowships first at Harvard in the seventies, then at BU in the nineties. Evelyne and Liz were offering their best to make of these, havens of peace and regeneration.
- The visits of Liz and Bernard to Courcelles, Chevreuse, and even Couffinal en Lauragais when Ali and James were still babies.
Les grands oiseaux se cachent pour mourir.
A travers mers et océans, par monts et par vaux,
Depuis ses Indes anciennes natales,
Le grand oiseau s’est échoué aux côtes Amériques.
Et puis les vents ont soufflé,
Les tempêtes, de sa vie ont pris toutes les pages,
Et d’un souffle elles ont tout dispersé sur les flots’
D’un temps sans pitié, sans rives et sans rivages
Qui ne coule que pour nous qui passons.
Avec pourtant un arrière goût suave, délicieux et exquis d’un Aurevoir.
We will meet again one day.
I cannot believe that all these ‘lot of loves’
With their fancy touch of art’s grace are for ever gone.
They were for us on Earth the icon of the Divine.
The French-German connection :
Jean-Paul, Angelika, Jean Philippe, and Yann-Eric
