A Day in Paris

Monday, July 04, 2005

July 4

To celebrate July 4, I let my son invite a couple of his friends over tonight for a barbecue. Well it wasn't exactly a barbecue, but I did offer hamburgers, hot dogs and potato salad for dinner. Actually, I invited a couple of my friends over too (both with children the same age as my children). They actually ate the potato salad. All the kids ate puree or mashed potatoes instead.

Three mothers and 8 kids. Needless to say it was a crazy evening but the kids had a wonderful time and got to say a final goodbye to some of their good friends. We leave on Wednesday to visit my sister in the south of France. Then my sister and I drive to Brittany where I'm meeting a friend. My friend and I rented a place for the week. By the time I get back to Paris in 10 days or so most of my friends and their kids will have left for their month-long vacation -- somewhere far from Paris. My kids seem to handling all these goodbyes better than I am....

Over the last two weeks I was fortunate to have two going away parties planned for me by my good friends. The first party included mostly my friends who have children that are friends with my kids. The second event, a coffee held at Angelina's, included my friends from my volunteer work with the Women of the American Church... a lovely group of women. Finally, the last picture was not a party for me, but rather a get together with the school moms that I would have lunch with from time to time. Each of these groups of women were integral to my happiness here in Paris. Thank you all for being a part of my life these last five years..... Jude, Louis, Leslie, Tina, Shelley, Pauline, Patti, Robyn, Sara and all the rest that made my time in Paris special.

-- said Auntie M in Paris
11:05 PM

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Comments:

That will be a really wonderful feeling - those times when you are back in DC and you feel like calling or writing one of these friends you just wrote about. Nope- no quick good-byes for Auntie M, you have alot of folks to say good bye to. And how about the wonderful landlord - how does he feel? Hope you are enjoying your travels! Terry in SF

# posted by Anonymous : 1:18 AM

How nice that they threw a party for you. It must be hard to have to say goodbye to your friends.

# posted by kenju : 2:29 AM

Terry, I will miss your comments! You are always so kind. My landlord has said that he wants to come visit, but that he is too old. We've bought him an American flag, one that has flown over the US Capitol, and I think he will be touched by the gift.
Kenju, Saying goodbye is so hard to do over and over again. It's very emotional.

# posted by Auntie M in Paris : 9:16 AM

Reading your final posts in Paris makes me sad, only because I can only imagine how much you're going to miss the friends and excitement that you've been around for five years now. You really took a lot away from that city, and I think you gave a lot back in return. :)

Again, I love that landlord of yours. I'm sure he's too expensive though for whenever I need a place to stay in Paris. But if he ever needs a tenant, I'm a really really good one. :-D

I hope when I go that I'm able to contribute the same little bit of fun to your day as you've done for mine, because you always have had some new adventure there (and honestly I don't expect it to be any different now in DC!)

# posted by Joe : 8:22 PM

Joe, Your comment made me smile, thanks. Although DC will not be quite as glamorous, I've always loved the city and I'm sure I'll keep busy... just not in the same way!

# posted by Auntie M in Paris : 11:45 PM