Vierzon; Winter.
All the sudden I find myself here/full of familiar smells and familiar faces
full of familiar foods and familiar streets,
but this time, everything is different.
All the sudden I remember why for the longest time in my memory France was dark all the time
Cause when the sun rises at 8 and sets at 4, that's a lot of nighttime hours per day.
Gone are the late summer hours of being little
of picnics and rivers and trips to fun places
of family younger and healthier, less...ageé.
Today I learn new french vocabulary like coffin and undertaker
Learn funeral proceedings and the tumbling of a matriarchy.
Today I am faced with the mortality of everyone I love
How age doesn't become them.
How looking at old pictures these days just makes me sad.
BUT then,
this week,
I spend time with my family, too.
Real time - not like sunshine holiday with dinner parties and going out.
This week, I soak them in - the daily them,
This is not vacation, everyone says,
and it's not.
but it's not real life, either.
This week, I sit with my cousins,
learn who drinks whisky,
and who believes in god.
How people feel about politics,
Who doesn't like greenbeans,
and...just...cousin stuff.
We are a family united by grief,
but there are so many other things that bring us together.
Distance aside
we are closer than many, it seems,
and grief or not
oldness or not
banalities or not,
we're all here.
This week, I am learning new ceremonies, new feelings, new habits,
and
I am learning new french vocabulary,
unity, grace, faith, greif,
togetherness.
full of familiar foods and familiar streets,
but this time, everything is different.
All the sudden I remember why for the longest time in my memory France was dark all the time
Cause when the sun rises at 8 and sets at 4, that's a lot of nighttime hours per day.
Gone are the late summer hours of being little
of picnics and rivers and trips to fun places
of family younger and healthier, less...ageé.
Today I learn new french vocabulary like coffin and undertaker
Learn funeral proceedings and the tumbling of a matriarchy.
Today I am faced with the mortality of everyone I love
How age doesn't become them.
How looking at old pictures these days just makes me sad.
BUT then,
this week,
I spend time with my family, too.
Real time - not like sunshine holiday with dinner parties and going out.
This week, I soak them in - the daily them,
This is not vacation, everyone says,
and it's not.
but it's not real life, either.
This week, I sit with my cousins,
learn who drinks whisky,
and who believes in god.
How people feel about politics,
Who doesn't like greenbeans,
and...just...cousin stuff.
We are a family united by grief,
but there are so many other things that bring us together.
Distance aside
we are closer than many, it seems,
and grief or not
oldness or not
banalities or not,
we're all here.
This week, I am learning new ceremonies, new feelings, new habits,
and
I am learning new french vocabulary,
unity, grace, faith, greif,
togetherness.