Journeys

Just when I think I'm Miss Technology, along comes Reality and trips me up again! In Morlaix I couldn't hook up to the internet, so I wrote my blog in a Word file and then transferred it to another computer that was hooked up. Well, Matthew helped me do that. When he left on Monday night, somehow the ability to transfer that material left with him. Try as I might, I couldn't do it on my own. So following is some semblance of what I wrote on Monday night. It sounded a lot more eloquent then.

It's Monday, and it's raining. We must be in Morlaix! Actually, for Morlaix it's not raining that much, and it's not very windy; it's a great day to be inside and to catch up on some last-minute post cards, and write my to-do list for the rest of my trip. A to-do list which consists mainly of spending time with Juliet.

I've been a little teary-eyed today, thinking about leaving on Saturday, and how much I will miss seeing Juliet every day. But she, Matthew and Jeanne have their own lives, and so do I. Soon Jeanne will go back to work and Juliet will be in day care. I have been lonely for Tom, and missed my tennis and my gym, and I have a hundred things to do for the Democrats when I get home. So I'll be okay; I'll just look forward to my next visit, to see how much Juliet has grown and changed.

We went shopping for a few things for Juliet and her parents today: a bottle brush, a "Baby on Board" (bebe a bord) sign for the car, baby food containers, and a new sleeping gown. I bought a Winnie the Pooh mobile for her bed; Matthew, Tom and I used to love reading the Pooh books. After shopping Jeanne took Matt to the train. He will get home about midnight, but at least he was able to spend almost the whole day with us. The train is really so convenient.

I've been thinking about journeys today, with Matt leaving and my own journey next Saturday. Life is really a series of journeys. There are everyday journeys: going to work, going on vacation, going to a wedding, going to a funeral. Then there are the more difficult journeys: leaving your parents' home for the last time, moving from a familiar place to a new one, sending a child off to college. There are life-changing journeys: marriage, divorce, having a child, losing a parent. And when a grandchild is born, we discover that some of the very best journeys are saved for the last part of our lives.