Nearly there!

Olivier phoned this afternoon. He had to give a presentation at the regional office of the bank he works in. It went very, very well. He didn’t use notes. He loves his subject and work. I’m so pleased for him. He’s almost at the end of his apprenticeship and will normally be taking his finals for his master degree in the spring. Rob and I are very proud parents.

Very sad news

We had some very sad news towards the end of January. My sister died very suddenly one evening when she was just settling down for the evening with her knitting. She was the fittest of the four of us siblings. Always active, grew her own vegetables and ate healthily. She was the one who could always be relied upon to pass round family information and news. It was a big shock to all of us.

As soon as I phoned Dom with the sad news she offered to collect me from the airport and take me to the funeral. I travelled to the UK on my own. It was strange, but as it was a journey we’ve made several times in recent years, nothing I couldn’t manage. Dom and J-M were so kind, looking after me for the two nights that I was there.

This was only the second funeral I had been too and the first time I’d been to a church ceremony. I was surprised at how comforting the service was. As I’ve lived in France for over 30 years now, there were quite a few people I hadn’t seen for a long time. It was lovely to be with my mum, brother and sister, my aunts and uncles and cousins, not to mention my now grown up nephews and niece. Family is really important at a time like this.