First of all, I want to wish a VERY HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY to a very special lady and world traveller - my good friend Rosie. It is fitting that I should be wishing her a very special day, as we spent many a time sitting in airports together. We even got stuck in Paris overnight, on one trip, thanks to Air Canada shutting the gate in our face. Hope today spent with your loved ones, was truly wonderful Rosie!
Nancy and I spent the day in a VIP LOUNGE at the airport in Montreal, going through all the stuff in our backpacks. Nancy is a gadget queen. You would NOT believe what that woman has in her backpack.
On a more serious and reflective note, I want to share the following thoughts ...
I must admit that it is with much trepidation that I will foot on French soil again after 11 years. You see, the first time I went to France, in 1989, Maman knew she had "something", but chose not to tell me. She and Papa were minding Sean and Joëlle, who were 3 and 5 at the time. Isn't a mother's love so TOTALLY unselfish, no matter how old her child is? She wanted me to have a wonderful first trip to Europe and not worry about her. Six weeks after I returned, Maman had almost half of a lung removed, because she had lung cancer. We are so fortunate to have her with us still. She is a survivor!
I returned to France in 2004 for a wonderful barge vacation on the Hivernais Canal in the "Bourgogne " region of France, followed by a week in Normandy, visiting WW2 Canadian battlefields, monuments and cemeteries. I knew Papa wasn't well, but it was in a tiny phone booth in a quaint little village in Bourgogne that I learned from my sister-in-law Pam, how really ill with cancer, my father had become. I will always remember that moment in time; it is frozen in my mind. My cher Papa died less than 10 months later.
Alors, je vais demander à St.Jacques de Compostelle de bien protéger et veiller sur les miens, ma famille et mes amis, surtout lors de mon petit séjour en pays Basque de la France, tout au point de départ pour mon pèlerinage. Qu'il vous protège tous. May God bless and keep you all, safe and well , especially as I am far away from you.
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