Mother's Day, 2011

Verdun, France. Lots of secret activity. The result: a Mother’s Day to remember!

I have had a great day, today, on my 14th Mother’s Day. I was woken up by the church bells nearby and then receive somed pressies, (including slippers and chocolates – Mother’s Day staples!) and had a breakfast of croissants and cereal. My card (which Michael had brought with him from Australia and carried all this way – impressive!) was particularly touching, especially the picture Aidan drew of us all at a mother’s day disco, complete with mirror ball!



We went into the village and wandered around – the city was a major Gallic, Roman and Medieval centre. We then went towards the battlefields. Lunch was a picnic at a picnic spot by the side of the road. We sat down to eat (a very yummy lunch I might add) and noticed we were surrounded by grassy trenches – leftover from the war. The boys had fun playing there after lunch!




We then went and saw some of the sights of Verdun. A major battle of World War 1 was fought here. The statistics are devastating. In the 10 month battle, 700 000 men were killed, wounded or missing. We went to the ossuary which has the bones of 130 000 unidentified soldiers, and saw a short movie about the war. We also went to the museum which had information about the battle here and also the war in general. In France, Verdun has the same mythical status as Gallipoli has for us.



It’s very sobering, and moving. So many women sent all their sons to war and never saw them again. Whole generations were killed and wounded. On this Mother’s Day I was especially thankful to God for my four sons.

Karen