C'est la vie

mainly sunny, mild, temps 15

Thank you so much for your good wishes and energy. Yesterday was long but very beautiful. jacques' funeral was lovely. it was a bright sunny day, and the cemetery is in a lovely village, surrounded by hills and forests. It smelled of fall, that slight musky scent. there were tears and laughs and great peace.

Louise's best friend- Louise - (I'm not kidding) was there, of course. Lending wisdom and support. This Louise often comments on the blog as 'frouch'. Hi Louise! We're known as LouLouLou. But what a wonderful thing for Louise to have her lifetime best friend there. And 'frouch' was so kind to bring a gift for me! Gummi bears.

then scooted to Sutton for the signing for En plein coeur at the Livre d'or. wonderful event!! Interestingly, my quebec publisher (louise) was there, and she brought her husband and best friend - Louise.

I'm not kidding. it was like a plague. A good plague, if such a thing exists. All these Louise's were kind and loving and supportive. But it did feel like the Bob Newhart show. My brother Darrell and my other brother Darrell.

And - wonderful news - En plein coeur is number 3 on the bestsellers lists. Very happy about that!

Then the celebration party for Jacques last night. Louise - such a courageous woman - spoke, as did Michael. I ate.

then home and we sat in the living room with tea, and talked. Louise described putting the lamp on beside Jacques' chair and talking to him. Then setting the timer and saying, 'I'll give you another 15 minutes, and then I need to get into action.' She wants to make sure she doesn't sink into sorrow. But has balance...grief. But also picks herself up. Amazing woman.

We're so glad she spent the night with us, not least of all because today was Jacques' birthday. So we put a picture of him on the table - and toasted his birthday.

And now Michael and I are in Montreal. He has an eye appointment tomorrow monring - then he's heading home. I can't quite believe we're going to be apart for almost 3 weeks. We've been apart for 5 days on past tours - but never this long. I know it'll be OK - but sad.

After he's gone I have an interview with C'est La Vie, with the fabulous Michel Saint Germain, who translated the book - and Bernard St-Laurent, the host of the show...and an old friend of mine. Fabulous journalist - especially brilliant on the issue of quebec politics. Love being on his show.

then hopping a train to Ottawa for two events Tuesday. One is for The Hangman, the literacy book - in the morning - with an adult literacy group...then at 7 on Tuesday night I'll be at the main branch of the Ottawa library. Love to see you there.

Long post, but I suspect I won't have time to blog tomorrow. Be well. Thanks for the company.

au revoir

mixed day...mostly cloudy and heavy rain - then sunny. cool- temps 13

Jacques died this morning at 5:30. Louise called about 6:30. We hopped in the car - and at her suggestion we met at a Granby restaurant for breakfast. I'm reminded of the poem by Auden about the old masters. And how life goes on. The mundane continues even in the face of tragedy. How odd it seems that people still drive cars and eat and walk dogs. Unaware of the loss.

And yet, there we were with Louise, in a quiet, far corner. Drinking coffee and eating pancakes and hearing about Jacques last moments - and beyond. And Louise alternately crying and laughing. After he died, Louise packed up his few belongings. Then she went around and thanked each and every nurse, every other person on the ward who'd been kind to Jacques and her. To the cleaners.

And then we had breakfast. After that we went back to their home, and sat in the living room. Louise put a photo of Jacques on the coffee table, and lit a candle, and we talked about him. And the joy (yes joy) they'd experienced in the last 45 days while he was in hospital. Busy not so much dying, but living to the very end.

It felt, and indeed was, a celebration of a full and beautiful life.

Eternal Life

Cloudy, rainy, cold - then sunny, hot and humid. Canada, eh? temps 15-28


Had a quite amazing day. Found out after only 4 days on sale En plein coeur is on the bestseller list.

And, if you're wondering who the man holding En plein coeur in the photo is, it's Jean Gamache - the man who was the initial inspiration for Armand! Eight years ago Michael and I were going to England for a wedding and Michael needed a new suit. Someone suggested this tailor in Grandy - Jean Gamache. I was just beginning to write Still Life and struggling with who the main character was, even his name was unclear. Off we went to the tailor - and there he was. Partly it was his physical appearance that inspired me - but mostly it was his character. Thoughtful, courteous in an old world way, with deep brown eyes that were many things, but mostly kind.

Voila. Gamache.

As you know, many others contributed characteristics, including Michael, my husband, but meeting Monsieur Gamache was the breakthrough. And as a homage to the man I used his last name.

I can't tell you how desperately moving it was to go there today to present him with a signed copy of the first book out in French. And he was still kindly and cheerful, intelligent and courteous.

Before that, earlier in the day, Michael and I had visited Louise and Jacques in the hospital. We'd talked about prayer the last time we visited, and the prayer of St Francis in particular. So Michael printed out a few copies and we sat around Jacques' bed, holding hands, while Louise read it, in English then in French. And then we all took turns talking about what it means to us.

As Louise said, reading it with jacques, at that time, gave each word of the beautiful prayer a significance and power it hadn't had for us before. Like most people, we all saw it was inspired. As a stunning example of grace. As well as a practical blueprint to how to live a happy life. But saying the words with Jacques, especially the last line, sent electricity through all of us. Not of fear or discomfort. But of power. And, oddly, calm.

It was a very beautiful time.

Louise was asked by CBC Radio's The Current to talk about her experience right now, losing the man she loves. You can hear the interview tomorrow morning on the national radio programme....or it will be available on their website later. It's in a larger package examining euthanasia - a big debate these days in Quebec.

A slice of cucumber

rainy, stormy, very humid, temps 25

ahhhh....

Wow, were we pooped! Sort of giddy. The flight was perfect...and not really all that long from Vancouver to Montreal. We were lucky the festival paid for the upgrade to - not business class - but the next best thing...the emergency exit seats. Air Canada, like many carriers, is now charging for the extra legroom seats...which is fine with me. Means we're guaranteed to get them, if we book early enough. but air Canada is so cheap I suspect if anything happened to the plane they'd charge people to use the emergency exit.

Michael slept a bit but I just relaxed, listened to music, read, watched old episodes of some forgettable sitcom. - I've forgotten which one. And just had a nice flight.

Got in, got the bags, grabbed a cab...that for me is one of the ahhhh moments in travel...sitting back in the taxi on the way home. No more worries, no wondering if this will go OK, or that will happen. What a waste of time worry is, and I'm sure getting better - but it still feels amazing to lean back in the taxi and look out the window. Phew.

I loaded the car while Michael went to the apartment and picked up whatever we'd left (mostly recycling) - then we whizzed down to the Granby Hospital - and there was Jacques, sitting up in bed eating cucumber fresh from their garden! For a man we never thought we'd see again he was looking very much alive. And laughing, and the look on his face as he ate the thin slice of cucumber. Better than a lottery win, better than 600 threat count sheets, better than any upgrade or luxury suite.

We tried not to stay too long and tire him out, but it's hard because we love his company, and he's very gracious. We went with Louise to the family lounge and had a wonderful talk. She told me in the evenings, in their quiet time, she reads The Brutal Telling to him until he's too tired, and he falls asleep.

I can't tell you what that means to me, and does to me, to hear that. Better than any upgrade, or luxury suite, or 600 threat count sheets. But perhaps not quite as splendid as a single slice of cucumber.

Susan's arriving in an hour or so to stay at the cottage. The young couple who are there will leave in a couple of hours. She's Kelley - the daughter of our friend Wilder, and her husband is Brent. They have a 2 year old daughter, Freya. Brent is a doctor and has been deployed to Afghanistan. He's been there 6 months. This is his leave, so we gave them the cottage so that the family could be alone. Their thin slice of cucumber. But we did drop by briefly yesterday afternoon to say hi. We'd never met Brent. They're very brave. As are thousands and thousands of families - as you know.

We had a nap, then had dinner, and went to bed again. Fell asleep knowing how lucky we are - deep dreams of peace.

Going with the flow

mainly sunny, mild, temps 23

As you can see, the sun has come out. This was my office this morning. Michael and I sat on the dock of our Bed and Breakfast here in Sechelt, sipping coffee and each reading our manuscripts. And glancing out at this view. A heron came and sat on the swimming dock beside us.

Very peaceful, gentle day.

Had a short nap this afternoon. Read 50 pages of the third draft. Reads well, so far. Making lots of notes, but nothing major. So far no structural or profound changes. Thank God.

Had a lovely 2 hour massage yesterday. It was delayed by about half an hour because the masseuse lives on an island and she had to wait for high tide to get out. Imagine setting your watch by the tides? How wonderful is that?

As I write a float plane is taking off and banking around the island you see in the photo.

Lonnie and Susan are picking us up and taking us to the salmon barbeque tonight. So kind to include us. It's meant as a celebration and thank you for all the volunteers at the Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts, which doesn't really start until the cocktail Thursday evening.

We have an empty day tomorrow, thank heaven. Nothing but more sitting on the dock, more reading. Heaven.

Michael spoke to Jacques today, as he does every day. Briefly now. Jacques' strength is going rapidly. Louise sent me an email last night, and we write back and forth. She says she sometimes feels her heart could just explode it's so full of sadness.

We wish we were there. But the fact is, the time is short, and it's for Louise and Jacques. And if we can't be there, we're so glad to be here. Looking out on this extraordinary scene of peace.

Speak to you tomorrow.

SPCA Tea Time

mainly sunny, warm, temps 24

Well, phew. Yesterday was the SPCA Tea. It was wonderful - thanks, as always, to a huge amount of work by a huge number of volunteers. Congratulations to everyone who helped! And wow, did they work hard! I have to say, My Assistant Lise and her wonderful husband Del saved the day more than once. We needed elecricity out by the pond where the two tents were placed. We needed it for the tea and coffee. Well, most of the plugs didn't work, and the one that did blew a fuse. So everything was tepid, people were pouring up the drive way, and we had no electricity, by the pond or in the refrigerator in the mudroom.

Del!

Del kept plugging extension cords in and finally found one that worked, just in time. Phew.

Lise spent much of the tea up to her elbows in suds, washing tea cups because we were going through them so fast.

But there were really three stars at the event: Lise and her gardens, Trudy - who was fun, and gentle and welcoming - and the four dogs the SPCA brought, most of them saved from puppy mills.

We were all exhausted at the end of the day...just wrung out. And then came the total. We were all hoping to raise 10,000 dollars for medical equipment for the local SPCA Monteregie, a no-kill shelter. We all ended up making more than 12-thousand!!!

A couple of friends, Sharman and Walter, came down from Montreal and stayed the night. We went out to a local italian restaurant, Il Duetto, for dinner. And nose down in the pillows by 10am.

This morning people began arriving to take things away. Oh, did I tell you, we got to talking to the fellow who delivered the Port-a-Potty and it turns out he spent 30 years as a pilot for private corporate jets. And now he drives toilets all over the townships, and loves it.

You just never know who you're going to meet, and what people's backgrounds are.

We spent a couple of lovely, peaceful hours on the porch this morning with Sharman and Walter, drinking coffee and having breakfast - then into Brome Lake Books in Knowlton and lunch at the Cafe Inn with the two of them. Then waved goodbye, and headed home in the beetle, top down. And now doing laundry and preparing to leave on the mini-tour.

Our friend in Granby is very ill. Now in palliative care. Had a call at 6 this morning from his wife and we chatted. Then she called back a few minutes later and we chatted some more.

We're going to see him Tuesday morning. Louise, our friend, said they stayed up all night talking - and she had a chance to tell him all the things she wanted to say, and to thank him. And he had a chance to tell her how grateful he is to have spent his life with her. How sorry he is to be leaving her so soon. And that he's a peace.

Remarkable people. We're also at peace, losing a precious friend. How lucky we are to have him now. And to have known him for as long as we did.