The Families who are Healing the Divide

My cousin Michele from Paris married a black American man after World War 2. Her beloved at that time was stationed in France as part of the American forces.

The photo below shows Michele at age 19 when she met her future husband, Belton, in Paris in 1955.

I remember her dad, Pierre my favorite uncle, was a bit shocked that his only and unique daughter was leaving her country and her family to go and have a new life in America with someone from another race.

True love is colorblind. I believe my cousin and all my friends who are from interracial marriages are healing the wounds created by centuries of pain, slavery, misfortune, injustice and the like. If love abides with these couples, truly their children are stunning. They are special in God’s sight. They are most beautiful, because it was the love of their parents that created them. Because they overcome it all. The pain became forgiveness. Love does not dwell in the weaknesses of the other, but covers the imperfections and the resentment.

Myself, I married a man of German descent, the enemy of France. The priest in my hometown, Father Durieux, said to me:

“I had 14 brothers and sisters and my grandparents were living with us up in the mountain. That was a huge table of 19 people over dinner. The Germans came and burned our house. This was the first time I saw my father cry. One German soldier said to him, witnessing the scene, ‘I am ashamed to be a German.’”

This soldier repented for his country. He was so sorry that this beautiful family of 15 kids were left with nothing. My husband also repented publicly in my hometown for the crimes of his ancestors.

I am also so sorry to see the anger and unrest everywhere in America today.
We also need to repent for things left unsolved. This is the time where we make the wrongs right. We say: “We are sorry, please forgive us, we love you.”

It is the same in the family, especially if our marriage is for healing our nations. We say to our partner: “I am sorry if I hurt you, please forgive me. I love you.”

Here are some photos of Michele and her family, and with me and my family. Michele received the Ambassador for Peace award. What a wonderful life!