Happy Days

I unexpectedly went to France for three weeks - "Oh frabjous joy. Callooh! Callay!" Thank you V. and B.

I landed in Frankfurt, Germany where my sister picked me up and we saw flocks of enormous storks gleaning in the fields on the three hour trip to her house. My older sister and brother-in-law bought me the ticket as a special gift for their daughter L. who is my god-child as well as my niece. She had her confirmation in their local church and I was invited for this special occasion. It was a very moving ceremony and I was happy to be there. She had two weeks off – so we tramped around town together the first week and the second she had to study for her brevet (a mid-way through high school national exam which determines if you can continue your high school education or get slotted into technological high schools) which she passed with flying colors.



It was wonderful to be home, walk around, and soak it up – to walk by a patisserie and be amazed at the display, to watch storks drifting overhead, to admire the weirdly pruned trees on city streets, to count medieval castles on hill tops, to stumble across a windmill, to watch a traditional farmer yoking his giant horses to a plow… I spent most of my time walking around Mulhouse where my sister lives just looking. And I took about 600 hundred photos of ironwork for my son the blacksmith. It was a treat to spend time with my hard working sister, her hard working husband, and their two children and to participate in their daily life. They own a little crêperie/restaurant in Mulhouse, and I had only been in their home once before in 1992. Because my family is often scattered across the world it is always good to be together.



Meanwhile, my younger sister had the brilliant idea of the family giving me cash for my birthday which allowed me to take two train trips – one to Paris (for 5 hours. I still love Paris), Compiègne (North of Paris to see former room-mate #1, her husband, and her family which includes my other god-daughter), and Lamorlaye (also North of Paris, where I grew up). The second trip was to Switzerland to see former room-mate #2 and her husband.

I rode the TGV (train of great speed) on the way to Paris which was exciting since I’ve longed to ride one. And believe it or not, the train was pulled by the actual engine that broke the land rail speed (574.8kmh - 357.16mph) on April 3, 2007. It took a little over 3 hours to go from Mulhouse to Strasbourg to Paris –which used to take 5 ½ hours. The ride is really smooth and you have no sense of going fast (in normal usage the speed is about 190 - 210 mph). When I got off in Paris, there were about 50 Japanese men taking pictures of the engine. You couldn’t miss the record because it was printed in gigantic letters all over the side of the train.

I finally got to go to Beaubourg, the modern art museum with my good friend FL who met me at the gare. I tried in 1992 and in 1999, but it was closed for remodeling both those times. The views of Paris from the top of Beaubourg are amazing and there was a Kandinsky retrospective in the museum. I’ve only seen a few original Kandinsky paintings before so I was enthralled. It was interesting to find out that he died in the same suburb of Paris where I was born, Neuilly-sur-Seine.



The weekend was emotional for me; I started crying in Compiègne in church when people were sharing with me how much Mom and Dad meant to them and how much they miss them. Then I cried after church when a dear lady who used to baby-sit me (when I was 6 months old) started hugging me and telling me that she prays for me everyday. Then I cried Sunday evening and Monday morning, saying good-bye to old friends.



And it did not stop then, the water really started flowing when I wandered around the chateau grounds (where the school was located that my parents worked in and where we were raised) – so many happy memories, so much change and loss. I finally stopped crying on Tuesday after wandering through our village all morning. A soggy, happy week-end, but I was glad to dry up.





I was also able to spend time with two important people from my childhood – two ladies formerly on the staff/faculty of the school. It’s special to visit these women who were influential in our lives (amongst other things they were given the right to discipline us when we were small which they did judiciously and carefully). Two dear ladies.

I hadn’t been to Switzerland in 33 ½ years (on my honeymoon) and it was lovely to see the Jura and the Alps, this time at normal train speed. I love trains. Plus I love looking out the window and gawking at the landscape and villages and towns. I had a lovely day rediscovering two old friends; they showered me with generous hospitality. And I wished, as usual, that I had more time to spend with them. Switzerland was sunny and beautiful that day with the Mont Blanc shining in the distance across the blue, blue lake.



On the last Saturday my sister and I went to Basel, Switzerland, which is only 30 minutes from her house, to the Kuntsmuseum to see the Van Gogh exhibit. It was another retrospective, mostly of his landscape work which is lesser known. It was a very fine show from his early days in Holland to his last days in France. Then I came home to the U.S. and was blasted with a Midwestern heat wave – 99F and a heat index of 115F. Summer is here with a vengeance! Whew.



Last week I went for my blood counts and yet again they are as stable as granite. There is hardly any change at all except for a slight improvement in my lymphocyte and neutrophil counts; both of these are part of the blood immune system. The lymphocytes have decreased from 92% in 2006 to 78% in 2009. My neutrophils have increased from 9% in 2006 to 20% in 2009. This is amazing considering I have never been medicated. The only little cloud on the horizon is that my cancerous cells have changed in shape and age to a more negative type. But the percentages of the worse ones is still very small – only 3% of the cancerous cells. So, good news. We are blessed.



I’m not sure if I ever explained that my white blood cell count is right at the level where they normally start chemotherapy. My oncologist wisely decided in 2006 to wait before we took that step; I am grateful for his wisdom since the count has never risen higher.

On the job hunt front nothing much has changed. John still cannot find long term or free-lance work. Free-lance contracts had served us very well for two years until the market dried up in November. Normally there is a slump in contract work between November and February, but this year it slumped and never picked up again. I’ve been looking for clerical work and have not succeeded either. So we’re not sure what the future holds. The market for those aged 50 years and over is not a great one, especially since we can only job hunt on line, rarely achieving a face to face interview. It’s like throwing your hat into a big black maw and wondering if the winds will ever bring it back around.



Life as usual has its ups and downs, but we are grateful to be in good health and in mostly sound minds, still in possession of our home, and so far paying all our bills. And the temperature has gone down to a balmy 83F. These are all excellent things.

I am always aware of the privilege of our friends’ and family’s affection, concern, and care for us, and we never take it for granted. Thank you for your prayers and affection. When my two oldest grand-kids were about 1 year old, they would end prayer by flinging their arms in the air and yelling, “Hallelujah!” Since we are Presbyterians, often jokingly known as God’s frozen chosen, we’re not quite sure where the exuberance comes from, but we similarly would like to fling our arms in the air and shout a good old, “Hallelujah!”