A couple of weeks ago, while digging through my parents’ old photos, I found two that caught my eye:

My mother had written names and dates on the back of both photos. Unfortunately, as with so many things I wish I had asked, I never asked my mother and my grandmother “in time”. Both of them have now passed away.

I had often heard my grandmother and my mother mention the name of “Annie Courant”. I wasn’t sure if “Courant” was her maiden name or her married name. 

So… I went into a mission mode to find out who Annie Courant was! 

The Hunt

The amount of information available online today is crazy (goodbye privacy!). The good thing about it is that it is really helping our research as genealogists, and creating so many opportunities for connections — or reconnections — whether we are genealogists or not! 

With a quick Google search and the help of a few French websites, I found Annie that very day. It was too late in France to call her, so I called her early the next morning (for me, Arizona time). 

The Phone call

We talked for 30 minutes, so happy to hear each other! Annie remembered me very well — Um… Let’s rephrase this, a little… — She remembered very well who I was at the age of 4-5 years old. I’ve changed a little bit since then, and I don’t think she would recognize me today if we passed each other on the street!

Annie told me a few anecdotes and shared her memories of my grandparents. She also clarified for me where and when she had met them, and solved the mystery of the photos! The baby was her eldest son, and the couple with my grandparents were Annie’s parents.

By recounting her memories of my grandparents, she briefly made them alive again. My jaw was hurting from smiling so widely.  

One funny thing Annie told me: a few years ago, she had wanted to track down my mother. One day, during her “bridge day” with friends, she told her bridge neighbor, Anne-Marie, that she wanted to find my parents. She knew they lived in Seine-et-Marne, in a town called “Vert something”, she said.

She told Anne-Marie: “Daniel Revenu is a fencing champion and he is married to Marie”. 

Anne-Marie said: “Oh! They are my parents’ next-door neighbors, in Vert-Saint-Denis!!” 

I laughed!! Of course I remembered Anne-Marie, her parents and her siblings! I grew up next to them!

Oh yes. Indeed: “Le monde est petit” — the world is small.  

Did I mention that Annie and Anne-Marie live in a town that is four hours away from Vert-Saint-Denis? What were the “chances” of them both knowing my parents, one of them whose parents were their next-door neighbors, and having that conversation?

Don’t you love all those serendipitous events that life throws at us, provided we pay attention to them?

The Bonus — A Beautiful Gift

Annie sent me a three-minute movie of… my grandparents!! And in color!! It was filmed in the spring of 1961 or 1962, in Saint-Dizier (Haute-Marne). My grandparents, my aunt, and both my uncles spent a day with Annie and her own family.

My mother, a young adult at the time, was volunteering that day at the Croix-Rouge (Red Cross), so she doesn’t appear in the movie. 

The movie starts “in town”, where my grandparents lived. I was able to find the exact spot where everyone was standing on Google maps! Then, everyone goes into the woods to pick daffodils. At one point, my grandfather spontaneously reaches out to kiss my grandmother. That was so sweet to see!

I have several pictures of my grandparents when they were young (or younger), and they are mostly in black and white. I have very, very few “movies” where I can actually see them move! So seeing my grandparents not only move, but move in color, was incredibly special. I was so touched to see them, along with my aunt and uncles who were then children. 

While it is a silent movie, I was suddenly transported in time and remembered my grandfather’s voice as if I were right next to him!

The Trip Down Memory Lane

I have a lot of cherished memories of my grandmother who passed away in 2016, just two weeks short of her 94th birthday. But I have much fewer memories of my grandfather who passed away in 1977, just before my 10th birthday… Yet, those memories of him are so vivid! I remember his voice, his smile, his eyes, and the way he was walking.

He was such a kind and loving man…

My last summer with my grandfather was July 1976, in Lagny. My parents were in Montréal (Québec, Canada), for the Olympic Games where my father was competing in fencing (he brought home a bronze medal in the men’s team foil event!). My sister and I spent 4 weeks at my grandparents’! My grandfather passed away six months later.

Every morning, we would wake up to the sound of the radio in the kitchen, my grandmother preparing breakfast, and the delicious smell of toast. My sister and I would kiss our grandmother good morning, then run and climb into my grandparents’ bed, snuggle one on each side of my grandfather, and wait impatiently for his morning story.

He invented all of his stories! Our favorite one was of “Poil-dur et Poil-doux“, the story of two goats in a field.

The only time my grandfather would “get mad” was when my sister and I would goof around at night, sharing the same bed, talking and laughing late at night. He would then come in the hallway and raise his deep voice: “C’est pas un peu fini, oui ?” (keep it down!)

While revisiting the past might bring nostalgia and sometimes tears, I always find it so special. I love feeling a reconnection with individuals who are now on the other side of the veil. It fills my heart with joy and warmth.

So Annie: from the bottom of my heart, thank you for allowing me this beautiful reconnection. I’ll cherish your memories of my grandparents and the beautiful movie you so kindly shared with me, and that I shared with my family.

✨

And since “Le monde est petit” (it’s a small world) seems to keep finding its way into my genealogy adventures, here is another little story about one of those serendipitous connections: It’s a small world – “Le monde est petit”.