When Julien arrives in Michigan to meet his wife's American family, he gets to know the American Midwest, as well as some unusual cousins. But above all, he meets Odette, his French great aunt with what one might call a resilient personality. Originally from Paris, she married an American soldier at the end of the Second World War. Like her, 200,000 other European "war brides" left behind their families and their countries to be with the G.I.s they loved.

November 1944, Paris, France. GI John arrives in France as a mechanic in the Military Railway Service. He meets and falls in love with a young French woman, Odette, working in a corner cafe. He is posted to Germany and returns a year later when his proposal of marriage is accepted and they decide to return to his home in the US - much to her family's chagrin. Odette is shipped to the Phillip Morris Camp in Le Havre for training in being 'American', before finally boarding the MS Vulcania. When we meet them at the beginning of the book, Odette's great niece Maud and her husband Julien are preparing to embark on a trip from Paris to Michigan, where many a culture shock awaits.

A long life fully lived might appropriately be documented in some concrete, long-lasting, retrievable form. So, at the risk of being charged with hubris, I here have accounted for those years, giving credit to ones who accompanied me along the way and implying the values that have motivated me. It has been a life of striving, of involvement, of reaching out for new experience, of celebrating successes and learning from failures. This journey has been deeply rewarding, taking me from the onion fields of Western Colorado to the tranquil forests of Central Oregon, through junior high classrooms and hotel conference rooms, over High Sierra passes, to the offices of government and to many foreign countries. Here I share that life story.