Are you sitting comfortably ? then I'll begin !!

[liverpool annie]

Michel my friend !

You can call me what you want ...... as long as it's not late for dinner !! 

I'm waiting for a bit of peace and quiet around here - then I'll do the draft for your perusal !!

Annie 

[johnnyboy]

Annie: Thought I'd add my two cents to this thread, though I have no real info to share. I tried to read all 22 pages of this thread today, but couldn't. So I cut to the chase. Kudos to you for all the work you've done in helping to get the Lietenant's wrist medal home.

When you answer this post, you'll have 7201 posts on Rootchat--a few of which helped me with my Houston great-great-grandparents coming to Massachusetts from Glasgow. I'm sure I'll never reach your level of dedication and expertise. I think you deserve a medal of your own, and I'm sure Rootschat's new friend Michel is more deeply appreciative than he can express--though he certainly has done a great job of conveying his feelings.

Regards from the Biggest Apple of them all,
John

[michel51]

Wendy,

my night are always short, but in this moment they are very very short.

 Even with work I supervise corner of the eye, discretly, the progression of thread and I have difficulty of concentrating me on the job for which I am paid.

You know, in this business, I quite simply listened to my heart and my reason.

Michel

[michel51]

hmmm Annie,

I do like when you call me "my friend".

please, take all the time you need

Michel

[liverpool annie]

Hi John !

Thank you so much for those nice words ...... When I first started on RootsChat I had just got the Internet and I was like a kid in a candy store .... sleepless for nights with my new found freedom !! it was a problem at first that I didn’t have Internet experience and I had some catching up to do .... hence all my posts !!

Now it's a passion and nothing gives me a bigger kick than finding somebody for someone who has been looking for years !!

Plus having a obsessive  mind helps 

Annie 

[michel51]

John,

vous avez raison, ma mauvaise pratique de l'anglais m'empêche de manifester, en termes choisis et appropriés, la profondeur de ce que je ressens pour Annie, son action pour ma cause, son incroyable dévouement, sa gentillesse si naturelle,  mais je pense que de manière instinctive, elle aura très bien compris à travers mes mots maladroits, mes phrases mal tournées et mes traductions approximatives l'immensité de ma reconnaissance et de mon admiration envers elle et bien entendu envers toutes les forces des autres membres du "chat" qu'elle a si bien su fédérer autour d'elle pour faire avancer d'une incroyable manière ce formidable challenge que représente la recherche de la trace de Robert William STEAD, presque 90 ans après qu'il soit passé de la vie au trépas.....

Dire ce genre de choses est, il est vrai, beaucoup plus facile lorsque l'on s'exprime dans sa langue maternelle.

Michel

[Wendi]

Well according to AlTaVista this this the first part, I can't get it to do the 2nd part yet.....

you are right, my bad practice of English prevents me from expressing, in selected and adapted terms, the depth of what I feel for Annie, its action for my cause, its incredible devotion, its so natural kindness, but I think that in an instinctive way, it will have included/understood very well through my awkward words, my badly turned sentences and my approximate translations the vastness of my recognition and my admiration towards it and of course towards all the forces of the other members of the "cat"that it knew so well to federate around it to advance in an incredible manner this formidable challenge which the research of the trace of Robert William STEAD represents, almost 90 years after it passed from the life to the demise..... To say this kind of things is admittedly much easier when one expresses oneself in his mother tongue.

Edit that it's done 

[alcrighton]

John,

vous avez raison, ma mauvaise pratique de l'anglais m'empêche de manifester, en termes choisis et appropriés, la profondeur de ce que je ressens pour Annie, son action pour ma cause, son incroyable dévouement, sa gentillesse si naturelle, mais je pense que de manière instinctive, elle aura très bien compris à travers mes mots maladroits, mes phrases mal tournées et mes traductions approximatives l'immensité de ma reconnaissance et de mon admiration envers elle et bien entendu envers toutes les forces des autres membres du "chat" qu'elle a si bien su fédérer autour d'elle pour faire avancer d'une incroyable manière ce formidable challenge que représente la recherche de la trace de Robert William STEAD, presque 90 ans après qu'il soit passé de la vie au trépas.....

Dire ce genre de choses est, il est vrai, beaucoup plus facile lorsque l'on s'exprime dans sa langue maternelle.

Michel

Bonjour Michel,

J'essayerai de traduire vos beaux sentiments.

"John,

You are right, my lack of practice in English prevents me from expressing, in well chosen and appropriate terms, the depth of what I feel for Annie, her action for my cause, her incredible devotion, her natural kindness, but I think that by instint, she will have understood very well through my awkward words, my badly constructed sentences and my approximate translations, the immensity of my recognition and my admiration towards her and of course towards all the efforts of the other members of the "chat" who she knew were around in order to make progress in such an incredible manner on the formidable challenge posed by finding traces of Robert William STEAD, almost 90 years after he passed from the life..... To say this kind of thing is truely much easier when one expresses oneself in one's mother tongue."

Regards,

Al

[johnnyboy]

Hello Michel: I agree.  Je ne parle pas francais!    Seudois, oui. Espanol, oui. Allemand, oui. Francais, non. Anglais, un petit  . Therefore I will write in my best language--L' Anglais d'amerique!

I think you paid Annie the supreme compliment. I also believe that our new friend  Robert Stead is joining all of us on Rootschat in thanking you for doing what you are trying to do. If there is no one in England to whom the wrist medal can be returned, it is obvious to me who should keep it in his memory. Vous, mon ami, Michel.

"Je pense que Annie vous a felicité suprêmement. Je crois également que notre nouvel ami Robert Stead joindrait tout le monde de Rootschat a vous remercier pour avoir fait ce que vous essayez de faire. S'il n'y a personne en Angleterre à qui la médaille de poignet peut être retournée, c'est évidente pour moi qui devrait garder ce souvenir de Robert. Vous, mon ami, Michel!"

Translated wonderfully and expressively by alcrighton. Thank you, Al.

Regards from New York City,
John