Hear Lucay tell about the first day she met her American sweetheart.
Living History by Val Young
I had the opportunity recently to interview one of our clients and hear her incredible story.
Lucay* grew up in a small French village, Ableige, near Paris. When she was growing up it was under German occupation for 6 years. She can recall in great detail the day she watched her town and home get bombed.
She was working as a cook that day at a French farm and could hear the bombers circling. When they dropped the bomb she knew that it was over her beloved home. As she recounted this to me, 77 years after it happened, she began to cry. It seemed as though it was just as real as if it had happened only yesterday. She went on to explain that her father had dug a trench for the family to stay in during bombing alerts and that is where they hid when the bomb was dropped. She recounted, “if my father had not dug that trench they would be dead.” When she got to the house she recalled that all of their chickens and animals “had seemed to have disappeared. Not one feather was left”.
She went on to describe to me the day she met the American that swept her off her feet. It was D-Day and he was an American Army Airforce Mechanic on B26’s and he noticed her first. He asked her to go to a dance with her and even though she only spoke French and he only spoke English they soon fell in love. (Watch the video above to hear her recall the first day they met.)
After their marriage in France, they moved back to Montana and they were married for 57 years until his passing. He was a Senior High graduate and had 4 generations graduate from Senior.
I asked her what her secret to a long life was and she said, "I wonder that myself. But I think it’s because God wants me to do something yet.” Through tears, she went on to say “I have to be there for my daughter whose son recently passed away.” Her love for her family is immense and such an inspiration.
She still speaks with a beautiful and undeniable French accent and has a tremendous quest for knowledge. At 98 years old she still reads up to 4 books a week, staying up late into the night.
This past year her family noticed that daily tasks around the home were getting difficult for her and her daughter in law recounted to me that she knew that “mom needed to go into a home, it was frightening, but we absolutely didn’t want her to go into a home, nor did she really want to go into a home. Covid had a lot to do with her not going, we looked around but we always fell back on the same fact that we knew she was so much more comfortable where her cat is, her books, her own bed, her memories, her comfort.”
They called Big Sky Senior Services and now our CAREgivers and nurse are able to help her with those daily tasks, like medication set up and household chores and she continues to live in her own home with Muffins, her cat. Her family is comforted too knowing that she has the care that she needs and that she gets to continue staying in her home.
We hope you might consider a regular gift to Big Sky Senior Services to assist people like Lucay to stay in their homes. You can be part of the solution for one of our local seniors.
*Name has been changed to protect privacy
Lucay* grew up in a small French village, Ableige, near Paris. When she was growing up it was under German occupation for 6 years. She can recall in great detail the day she watched her town and home get bombed.
She was working as a cook that day at a French farm and could hear the bombers circling. When they dropped the bomb she knew that it was over her beloved home. As she recounted this to me, 77 years after it happened, she began to cry. It seemed as though it was just as real as if it had happened only yesterday. She went on to explain that her father had dug a trench for the family to stay in during bombing alerts and that is where they hid when the bomb was dropped. She recounted, “if my father had not dug that trench they would be dead.” When she got to the house she recalled that all of their chickens and animals “had seemed to have disappeared. Not one feather was left”.
She went on to describe to me the day she met the American that swept her off her feet. It was D-Day and he was an American Army Airforce Mechanic on B26’s and he noticed her first. He asked her to go to a dance with her and even though she only spoke French and he only spoke English they soon fell in love. (Watch the video above to hear her recall the first day they met.)
After their marriage in France, they moved back to Montana and they were married for 57 years until his passing. He was a Senior High graduate and had 4 generations graduate from Senior.
I asked her what her secret to a long life was and she said, "I wonder that myself. But I think it’s because God wants me to do something yet.” Through tears, she went on to say “I have to be there for my daughter whose son recently passed away.” Her love for her family is immense and such an inspiration.
She still speaks with a beautiful and undeniable French accent and has a tremendous quest for knowledge. At 98 years old she still reads up to 4 books a week, staying up late into the night.
This past year her family noticed that daily tasks around the home were getting difficult for her and her daughter in law recounted to me that she knew that “mom needed to go into a home, it was frightening, but we absolutely didn’t want her to go into a home, nor did she really want to go into a home. Covid had a lot to do with her not going, we looked around but we always fell back on the same fact that we knew she was so much more comfortable where her cat is, her books, her own bed, her memories, her comfort.”
They called Big Sky Senior Services and now our CAREgivers and nurse are able to help her with those daily tasks, like medication set up and household chores and she continues to live in her own home with Muffins, her cat. Her family is comforted too knowing that she has the care that she needs and that she gets to continue staying in her home.
We hope you might consider a regular gift to Big Sky Senior Services to assist people like Lucay to stay in their homes. You can be part of the solution for one of our local seniors.
*Name has been changed to protect privacy