Sunday, April 29, 2018

The right place at the right time

JLAP
It has only been a little over a month since I returned from France. It was an amazing trip with my co-chaperone and 13 of my eighth grade students. While planning the trip, I discovered that there would be a guided tour in English at the Mémorial de la Shoah. My students and I discuss the Holocaust and La Rafle, the round-up of the Jews in Paris in July of 1942. I show them the movie Sarah’s Key, based on the novel by Tatiana de Rosnay. I have had the pleasure of meeting Mme de Rosnay twice, once by design, once purely by chance. Being in the right place at the right time. In front of the Paris Hôtel de Ville during a rally for women in 2013. She was the guest of honor. All of the women were on motorcycles, including Mme de Rosnay.
tatiana
I’ve been to the Mémorial de la Shoah several times in the past few years. While in Paris in January of this year, I decided to visit Drancy, the site of one of the deportation camps used during the Holocaust. I have read stories of women who survived the camps or who were hidden children during the Holocaust. I have also read fictionalized accounts of the occupation of France by the Nazis such as All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr and The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. My high school French teacher, Mme Christiane Roze Buchanan, lived in occupied France.
IG
On this particular March Sunday afternoon, I arrived with my crew in time for one young lady, who became a Bat Mitzvah in November of 2018, to make a presentation about the Mémorial. (I ask all of the students to sign up for one of the places we will visit and prepare a short presentation about it.) We also had time to take a look at the Wall of Names before our guided tour began (see first two photos). We found a place to sit inside the Mémorial to wait on our guide. There weren’t many places to sit and when another woman came over to join our group, I gave one young man a look that meant “Get up and give your seat to this woman. Now.” He read me well and got up. This woman struck up a conversation with the students she was sitting next to– Where are you from? Why are you in Paris? What have you seen so far? Then the tour began and we took a two-hour journey through the history of anti-semitism and anti-Judaism in France. The tour ended in a relatively small room, with just a few glass benches, and black and white photos of children on the walls. Photos of children taken from their families during the Holocaust. By this time, I was in tears. Just thinking of having my children or granddaughter taken from me is almost more than I can stand. As I sat there, I heard a voice behind me say in French to the guide “J’étais un enfant caché.” I was a hidden child. The voice came from the woman who had joined our tour. The guide asked her in French if she would be willing to share her story. The right place at the right time.
(I am taking this from Monique’s bio- she tells the story much better than I could.)
monique's book
A “hidden child” of the Holocaust taken in France in 1942, Monique Saigal dedicates the new edition of her book to her grandmother Rivka Leiba pictured on the cover, gassed at Auschwitz September 30th, 1942. A month earlier, on August 24th fearing for Monique’s life she threw her on a train carrying non-Jewish children whose fathers like Monique’s had died. An organization called “the house of the prisoners” helped war widows by sending their children to spend a one month vacation with a host family in Southwest France. Scared and alone, Monique arrived at the train station but there was no one to pick her up. However, a young lady Jacqueline Baleste, waiting for a little boy who did not come off the train, saw the little girl with no name-tag crying in the corner. She embraced her and brought her home where Monique lived with the Baleste family for 8 years in a small village. She was baptized and raised Catholic for fear of surrounding Nazis in this occupied zone.
monique photo
After she spoke with the group, Monique gave me a postcard-sized card with her bio. And her email address. I attempted to wipe away my tears and hugged her. Later that evening, I emailed Monique to thank her for sharing her story with us. She quickly emailed back and told me that she would be happy to meet us and share more of her story if we had the time. We settled on a time, she came to our hotel with her power point presentation on her computer, and told us more of her story. Several of my students bought a copy of her book. When she ran out of copies, she told me that she would send some more to me as soon as she got back to California. (She was in Paris to visit her uncle, her mother’s brother.)
monique's inscription
Monique’s book, French Heroines, 1940-1945, available in both French and English, contains the stories of women “who are little known yet who stand out because of their extraordinary courage during the German occupation in World War II, when they risked their lives, engaging in clandestine activities to overcome the Nazis.” There are eighteen stories because in Hebrew “chai” or the number 18 stands for life. I read these eighteen stories and have even reread most of them because their acts of bravery seem unbelievable to someone who spends most of her time worrying about “first world problems.”  I want to believe that I would have been one of those brave women. But I hope that I never have to find out the limits of my bravery and courage.
Merci, Monique. I will never forget our chance encounter. Thank you for being so very brave. God bless your grandmother and the Baleste family.
The right place at the right time. How very fortunate I am.
As I read about the people who were starving during the war, I realized that although my family didn’t have very much money when I was growing up, Mama Mildred always managed to put food on the table for her four children. I made a very simple soup today and I will pass that recipe on. My recipes such as this one are always a guess-timate, as we say in English. Soups do not have to be exact. That’s probably one of the reasons I enjoy creating them. Someone left a bag of Wegman’s Salt Potatoes in the faculty lounge this week and I claimed them. A 5-pound bag of potatoes with a small bag of salt inside. Go figure!
soup
Potato Sausage Soup
Andouille sausage, cut in bite-sized pieces
1 medium or large onion, diced
Minced garlic, optional
Olive oil
Thin-skinned potatoes, scrubbed (and peeled, if you wish), cut into bite-sized pieces
Chicken stock or broth (you could also use vegetable stock or even water)
Herbs (I used Weber’s Roasted Garlic and Herb Seasoning)
Salt and pepper, if desired
In a heavy bottomed pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Brown the sausage on both sides. Remove to a bowl and set aside.
Using the same pot and oil, sauté the onions until soft. If using minced garlic, add it at the end, for about 2 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon.
Put the potatoes in the pot with the onions. Cover the potatoes with chicken stock, broth or water. Add back the sausage. Sprinkle in herbs. Stir. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender. Taste and adjust seasonings, if needed.
Bon appétit to heroes from all walks of life. Big and small. Rich and poor. Old and young. Jewish, Catholic, Protestant or non-believers. And all in-between. To all who perform intentional and/or random acts of kindness in this world. And remember, everyone has a story. We just need to open our hearts and ears and listen. Really listen.

Sunday, April 15, 2018

Searching for serenity

serenity-prayer-journal
It’s been one of those weeks. I am lucky that I have the Ex-Ex, some very good friends who love me, listen to me, and make me laugh (google tarantula burger and you will see what my BFF has been up to- hearing about that made me guffaw during our walk/therapy session this morning). I spend a great deal of time telling myself that all families have “stuff” and that our “stuff” isn’t as bad as what many are dealing with. I have said before that I am not a particularly religious person (Sorry, Mama Mildred and Best Mother-in-law). I do, however consider myself to be a deeply spiritual person. One friend recommended that I recite the Serenity Prayer over and over to myself. I’ve added it to the Lord is My Shepherd and Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. And today, at the BFF’s suggestion, I decided to go over to Duke Gardens for an hour or so.
duke plaque
First, some wise advice–
garden path
Let’s start with the tulips… I love them. In all shapes, sizes, and colors.
tulip1tulip2tulip3tulip6
Up close and personal
I found a few critters. A very elusive cardinal. Maybe he was just teasing me, flitting from tree to tree.
One of the ponds-
Another sign to respect… but I saw no frogs. And I looked very hard. Is it too early?
frog sign
frog
The azaleas are stunning here right now.
A squirrel… and a bird. Didn’t see the bird until just now!
squirrel
My Daddy loved pink dogwoods. So do I.
I found a quiet spot in the section devoted to native plants to sit and listen to the wind in the pine trees.
bench1
pine trees
And check out the NC plants. No mountain laurel or rhododendrons quite yet.
Yes, the trip to Duke Gardens was just the right recipe for the afternoon.
bird fountain
When I got home, after a stop at Harris Teeter, I decided to try a recipe that I found on a cooking/eating website last week. My boys have always loved rice pudding. I discovered riz au lait a few years ago in France. Kind of the same, but different. In March, I ate it at Odile’s apartment in Paris. I asked her what kind of rice she uses. She told me dessert rice, as if I would know what that is. When I told her that we don’t have that (at least I haven’t found it), she suggested arborio rice, the same one I use to make risotto. Voilà!
coconut rice pudding
Coconut Riz au Lait
from The Novice Chef (Coconut Rice Pudding: Disney Copycat Recipe)
6 servings
1 cup Arborio rice
1-1/4 cups whole milk
13.5 ounce can of coconut milk (not in the dairy section- this is really thick, more like cream)
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
In a large heavy pot, mix the rice, whole milk and coconut milk/cream together. Place over high heat.
When the mixture starts to boil, place the lid on top and reduce to low heat. Cook for 13-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the rice is completely cooked.
While the rice is cooking, place the shredded coconut in a pan and toast it over low heat, stirring constantly.
When the rice is cooked, add the condensed milk, heavy cream and cinnamon. Stir well to combine.
Cook on low heat, until the rice has thickened and the mixture is creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir to keep the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Remove from heat, stir in most of the shredded coconut, saving some to sprinkle on top. Serve warm or chilled.
Bon appétit to all! I wish you all serenity and a beautiful spring, filled with flowers and critters. Take a picnic and enjoy the outdoors. It helps put life into perspective. Even with all of the yellow dust covering everything at the moment!