George & Janine: True-life Love Stories-Part Three

This story began in 2015, when my 89-year-old mother asked if my sister and I would take her back to visit St. Tropez one last time. This wonderful trip prompted some storytelling and revelations that we had never heard before. We both agreed that we had not seen my mother so happy for a long time. When we returned to England, we had further conversations about the past, and I wrote it all down. My intention was to create a book of her memoirs to give to my own children. This family history was recorded and given to them as Christmas gifts that same year. Of all the stories Mum shared, the story of how she met George Rogers, the handsome English soldier who stole her heart, was the favorite. My mother died two years ago. I’ll be forever grateful that my sister and I took that last journey with her. It left her at peace. George & Janine, Parts One and Two, were inspired by the events that led them to fall in love during the euphoric days leading up to the end of World War II and then their first steps into marriage. In Part Three, they have moved to London’s East End where a very different way of life presented itself to the French-born Janine. -Elizabeth Battaglia