Wonderings

The last week has been simply NUTS!!!! The urgency of our coming international move has finally settled in on our home. Much has been accomplish, and much needs to be done still. But, for the moment, I only have 30 minutes before we leave for a dinner with friends, so I cannot possibly being another task now, right?!? Instead, I am going to record some of my thoughts.

I wonder if I will have time to blog the final blogs stewing in my mind. If not, I'll finish them from US soil. We visited the Pêre Lachaise cemetery. Absolutely fascinating! I want to blog about that.

We had American week at Lidl (the least expensive grocery store nearby). All I can say is this: HILARIOUS! I took photos. I want to put them on the blog.

I also took photos of the hills that we walk each week to get groceries. I want to add them in the blog as a record of our life here.

But, as I sort, purge, clean, pack, I find myself wondering what things will last in my memory forever from our days in France. I have moved enough to know that not everything will remain in my memory. Things that I think I'll never forget will slip away with time.

Will I remember...

-Lena's friend Emma who affectionately calls her cat 'my little poop pellet', much to the horror of her mother? I marvel at the 'endearing names' of the French. Calling someone a little cabbage is a compliment, really?

-Will I remember the millions of trips to the ATM machine to withdrawal our salary each month from our American bank? Will the 4 digit code for our bank card in France be forever etched in my memory?

-Will I remember how disturbed Todd's teacher is with him that he doesn't concentrate enough in school? She tells me this with a little smile on her face and I always feel confused that her words and her expression don't match. Doesn't she realize how much she has helped him get control of himself this year? She only says time and time again, "His head is on the moon."

-Will I remember all the dog poop on the ground? (Surely I will.)

-Will I remember how Ryan's 4th grade class has become absorbed in 'who loves who' this year. Ryan used to hate girls, except for Alix who is a tomboy. This year he's relenting and even 'hanging out' with some of the girls. He still never wants to get married though.

-Will I remember how much I hated the fact that most lawns in the parks here are forbidden. You cannot walk or sit on them. Did I say I hate that. I hate that.

-Will I remember how to use the metro system? Surely I could never forget that. Will I forget that our metro station has white and green tile? Will I remember the colors of certain stations and not others? I think I will never forget that Abbessess is blue and yellow - and so is Notre Dame des Champs. Why do I remember that even now? Will that stick?

-Will I remember that it was important for my kids to bring a towel with them to a sleep-over at a friend's home?

-Will I have nightmares over the French conversations that I have botched big-time? I fear they may be etched in my memory forever.

-Will I remember falling into the street or getting stuck in the suburbs when the bus just suddenly stopped running because of icy roads? Surely I'll never forget those events.

-Will I remember the fear of entering my first conversation group with the retired Frenchman who spoke French so fast and so differently than my teachers?

-Will I remember the colors of the flowers at Luxembourg gardens?

-Will I remember the pigeons?

-Will I remember the rude waiters?

-Will I remember the dermatologist who gasped with everything I told her? (I really don't think any doctor should take to the habit of gasping at their patients. It's just not nice, I say.)

-Will I remember the looks on people's faces when we showed them Paris? Surely I'll never forget that.

-Will I forget the taste of the magnificent hot chocolate at Angelina's?

-Will I forget the goofy weatherman on the BBC version of CNN with the horrible accent and who began every sentence with 'you see what's going to happen here is this...' in lightening speed?

-Will I remember putting the kids to bed and enjoying pistachios with Mark?

-Will I remember watching movies in French and stopping a million times to look up words in the dictionary?

-Will I remember all the sweet packages that came from the USA in the mail for us?

-Will I remember summer with the windows open and cool breezes blowing through...and then the smell of smoke arriving?

-Will I remember watching fireworks on the 14th of July from our balcony?

-Will I remember riding the free bus across town to go to the Trois Moulins mall?

-Will I remember how our washing machine tore the wastebands of the boys underwear to pieces?

-Will I remember the toilets with the mega-powerful flush?

I'm not sure what I will remember. But, I'm sure I'll remember the people. The rest will come and go depending on what triggers memories in life to come, but the people I know I'll always remember. Or, so, I pray I remember them all. They made it wonderful to live here.

OK - now I have to go. We're off to our last official good-bye dinner. Should be fun!

A bientôt,
Jill