AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry about the delay, Folks. That quaint little quirk not unknown amongst Authors called a 'brain fart' hit me. That, plus for some reason updates not showing up after posting. Anyway, we are now starting the French part of the summer vacation with the Ed's, the Kankers, and their friends...

Chapter Forty-Four

It had just passed noon. There were only a few clouds in the sky and the sun was shining brightly overhead. A warm breeze was blowing in from the English Channel, but despite that, it was not overly hot. However, Ed was not noticing the weather so much, but arther the beach that was spread out below his vantage point.

May looked at her boyfriend quietly as he leaned on a railing. Both of them were on an observation point – built on top of an old German pillbox - used by tourists to look out at the coastline that was part of a pivotal moment in world history. Ed was looking out over Utah Beach. Mindful of the importance that this particular beach on the Normandy peninsula of France had for Ed, the other members of the party were leaving the two of them well alone as they were looking at the sights themselves.

The ferry carrying Chuck Statorowski and the teens had arrived at the port of Cherbourg earlier that morning and had gotten through Customs without any problems. After Chuck – with the help of Edd, who was reasonably fluent in French - secured a rental mini-bus for them to use for their driving in France, the party had decided to make Utah Beach their first stop on the way to Paris.

"I'm impressed as to your knowledge of French, Oven Mitt", Marie remarked to Edd after they had driven away from Cherbourg. Marie was referring to Edd interpreting for Chuck as the receptionist on duty at the vehicle rental agency did not speak English.

"Thank you, Marie", Edd replied, "but I was concerned that I would be understood as the dialect of French that I speak is Quebecois; not classical French. The receptionist at the vehicle rental agency thankfully lived in Canada and thus was able to understand me".

"That's still a step up from what the rest of us can do, Double-Dee", Eddy remarked, "A pity though that we can't spend too much time here. That ferry delay yesterday means there's a lot that we won't get to see here".

"That's for sure", Kevin said in agreement, "I was looking forward to taking the full tour of all of the D-Day beaches and seeing some more of the preserved gun emplacements and bunkers".

"I'd had liked to visit the cemeteries", Johnny said, "I had relations who fought and died here. Not in the airborne – like Ed's grandfather – but down on Omaha Beach".

"For me, I wanted to go to the Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeux in Bayeuxsee", Edd replied, "because that's where the Bayeux Tapestry resides".

"I heard about that", Nazz said, "A lot of history is in that tapestry".

Kevin looked shocked. He didn't think that Nazz had an interest in that type of thing. Nazz saw her boyfriend's expression. She rolled her eyes.

"I'm not exactly a stereotypical ditz, Kev", Nazz said in some exasperation, "despite how Lindsay and I – like - act at times", she concluded in a mock Valley-girl accent while putting her hands on her hips and bending her left leg. The other girls laughed at that.

"Monet lived near here too, you know", Lee added, "Yeah, I know that Marie is the artist in the family, but Monet's paintings definitely gets one's attention. So I know you boys like the war history of this place, but ya also gotta appreciate the other things as well. For instance, I appreciate the fact that we're driving on the proper side of the road again. I liked England, but that left-hand-side driving was still weird".

"True, but you can't ignore the significance of D-Day though", Eddy pointed out to his girlfriend, "A lot of people fought – and died – here to rid the world of Nazism. People like Ed's granddad. I remembered when Lumpy, Double-Dee, and I watched 'Band of Brothers' on TV back home and Ed being so excited that an actor was playing his granddad".

"Yeah, but Granddad died when the plane carrying him and some of the troops under his command were shot down close to here. Dad told us at length about what Grandma had mentioned about him", Sarah said, "which is why Ed was thinking for a while about going into the military after high school".

"I thought that Ed was intending to work with your father now that he's a co-owner of Peach Creek Trucking, Sarah", Chuck Statorowski said. Chuck had been referring to the fact that Ed and Sarah's father – a long-haul truck driver – had recently gone into partnership with another driver and both of them had just established a small trucking concern of ten big rigs.

"True, Mr. S", Sarah replied, "but now that Ed's impressed you with his ice-skating, perhaps he'll be doing that full-time instead".

"Well, whether it's the military, trucking, or Olympic skating, it's good to see that Lumpy will have options when he does graduate", Eddy commented, "but I understand that May wants to join the Police when she graduates, so won't that complicate things?"

"Whatever they eventually decide to do, it's really not our concern, Love", Lee replied, "I'm just glad that Ed's and May's grades and general schoolwork have improved. Personally, I hope that they do decide to stick it out with figure skating. An Olympic gold medal can do wonders for a resume".

"As well as bragging rights for their siblings, right Lee?" Marie asked with a smile.

"Speak for yourself, Marie", Lee replied with mock exasperation, "after all that business last summer, you're just as proud of her as I am".

Marie nodded. So did Lindsay. The road trip last summer that the Kanker Sisters and Lindsay took had been an eye-opener for all concerned. What the sisters had found out about their family history, plus how they had dealt with the adversity and challenges that they all had encountered during the trip had truly shown each other about their inner strength and determination. It was a time of rapid maturing for them all. Indeed, it was something worth writing a book about…

"Did you have anybody in your family that fought here, Lizzy?" Lee asked her BFF.

"Dad told me that both sides of the family were in Poland during the German occupation. My grandfather on my father's side escaped to England when the Russians came in, then after the war emigrated to America. My other grandfather fought with the Polish resistance. He was killed in the Warsaw uprising in 1944", Lindsay replied.

"Yeah", Chuck commented, "the Russians were so close to Warsaw, the resistance decided to stage the uprising to help the Russians liberate the city, but instead of the Russians coming in to assist, Stalin ordered his troops to halt outside the city. End result was that the uprising was eventually crushed by the Nazis. Only then did Stalin order his troops in to 'liberate' what was left of Warsaw. That thug didn't want anybody non-communist to compete with him in Poland once the country was cleansed of the Nazis, so he let the Nazis take care of them for him".

The others nodded. They understood Chuck's disdain for communism but didn't understand why. Now they did. What Stalin did to Poland – during the war and afterward – was something that no Pole would ever forget.

While they were chatting about all of this, back at the railing May cleared her throat.

"Big Ed?" May asked, "You all right? You're very quiet". Ed turned to face his girlfriend.

"Yeah, May. I'm okay", Ed replied, "I was just imagining what it must have been like on D-Day. I saw the movie 'The Longest Day' once and I know that the Americans landing on Utah and Omaha beaches had the worst of it. Thinking about them made me think about Granddad, and the others who didn't survive".

"He didn't die on this beach, Ed", May reminded him.

"I know, May", Ed replied, "but he was in the 101st Airborne and they were dropped in behind this beach the previous evening to help disrupt German reinforcements coming in to try and stop the invasion. What they did played a vital role in securing the beachhead. True, his plane was shot down and he was killed before the actual invasion started, but his comrades that survived the initial drop and fought helped make the invasion a success".

May nodded. Ed was not talking in his usual dopey voice: he was being very serious.

"Is sitting here making you want to join the military, Big Ed?" May asked next. Ed shrugged.

"Before we became serious, I was leaning strongly towards joining up after High School", Ed confessed, "but with everything that has happened since then with us, it's changed my priorities. If war does happen and people are needed to defend the USA, I suppose I could always join at that time, but helping Dad with his company is what I'm leaning towards. I don't want to be apart from you for too long, May".

"I don't want to do anything that would make you not fulfill your dreams, Big Ed", May said as she walked up and hugged him. Ed hugged May back and for about thirty seconds, both of them were quiet.

After they broke the hug, Ed said: "Dad becoming a co-owner of a trucking company is making me want to go to Peach Creek College and earn a degree in business so that I can be part of it. That would mean that we would both be together, but what Mr. Statorowski said about our ice skating sounds neat as well. Me and my Little May getting a gold medal at the Winter Olympics sounds real nice".

"I like that too, Big Ed", May said with a loving smile, "you skate so beautifully".

"As do you, but I know that you want to be a policewoman, May", Ed said next," and I don't want to do anything that would take you away from your dreams either".

"There's nothing to say that I have to join up with the Police immediately after High School, Big Ed", May pointed out, "and for your information, I'd like to get a college degree in Criminal Science myself, so we'll be in the same college together, and still be able to train for the Winter Olympics".

"It's a great plan, May. Hopefully our folks will understand about the ice skating", Ed said with a smile.

"Hey, if Eddy's dad tolerates him doing ballet, then I don't think your dad would object to you competing in the Olympics", May said. Just then, Chuck called out to them.

"Ed", Chuck said, "It's almost One PM. We have just enough time to see Sainte-Mère-Église if we leave now".

"Okie-Dokie, Mr. S", Ed said as he turned around. He then looked at May.

"I guess that we'd best be heading out", Ed said to her as he held out his hand. Smiling, May took the offered hand. Hand in hand, they walked back to the rest of the party.

"Had a good look, Lumpy?" Eddy asked as both of them rejoined the others.

"Yeah, Eddy", Ed said, "but I guess we'd best be on our way now. Paris awaits".

They all walked back to the car park to board the mini-bus. Ed wouldn't have minded staying longer, but Chuck was right: the delay caused by yesterday's ferry breakdown had made a shortened stay here in Normandy a fait accompli...