As the title indicates, I said 'goodbye' a lot today. The first person I bid farewell to was Tika, one of the caretakers at Gregoire's crêche. She's this burly woman with dark skin, dark hair, and ocean blue eyes. For the first month, she would strike fear in my heart every time I saw her at the daycare. Over time, as my french got better and as I learned how the French childcare system worked, we were able to get to know each other, and for me, I grew to love her. For a big, strong woman like her, it was emotional for me to see her get teary-eyed about leaving Gregoire. Gregoire is her favorite tot at the crêche, but she is opening up her own daycare facility. It's been long overdue. I just said to her "Aux états-unis, on donne des calins." She opened her arms wide as tears welled up in her eyes and I moved in for a hug. I squeezed her hard, rubbed her back, and did that cute swaying thing we sometimes do when we hug. I let her go, saw that she was smiling, and made my exit. I'm not sure why but I feel like that's the last time I will ever see her. I'm happy to have known her for the little time that I did though.
The next person I said goodbye to is Véronique. She's Didier's younger sister, but not the youngest. She's been visiting for the past few days as she hadn't really had time to in the past. She's a recent divorcée so time is now at her leisure. I don't know what it is about me but I find that most people tell me really personal things about their lives. I never ask...Maybe it's the bartender in me that people feel comfortable talking to. Anyway, I had had another spat with Andréa previously and was crying so instead of me consoling Véronique, she came to my aid. I was extremely sick due to all of the stress I was going through so Véronique took care of me and pretty much took care of the house. I'm so thankful to her. She might be old enough to be my mother but when I talk to her, I feel as if she's ageless. She's definitely someone I can see being my girlfriend for life. I truly love this woman and I've only known her for a week. Her mini-vacation was coming to a close though and she had to get back to her cottage and pets. She came and found me in the dining room before she took off, grabbed me, gave me a big hug, and told me she hoped me the best. This was the type of hug I had mentioned before--the hug that Hannah gave me the day that I was leaving for France. It's the sort of hug that you can really feel the love in, the type that makes tears well up in your eyes whether you're happy or sad, the hug that you will never forget. I don't know if it's because she's a mom or not, but Véronique gives great hugs--and I hate hugs!!! I miss her already...But she promised she'd accept my friend request on Facebook and we'd keep in touch. I hope so. I really hope so...
Andréa came and picked me up tonight as maman was getting home. I was still kind of sad from seeing everyone leave so it was good that he decided to do something different tonight. He took me bowling! This is one of the nicer bowling alleys I've seen with a central bar in a wide open building. The bowling lanes were directly in the back of the building, with the restaurant at the right, huge arcade on the left, and at least a dozen pool tables sitting at the front of the building. I met three of Andréa's friends that I had never met before. Chrys and Momo work with Andréa while Alicia is Chrys' girlfriend. They are one of the few friends that I've met who are not timid at all. They didn't care that they didn't know me and that I don't speak french well, they acted like they knew me their entire lives and joked with me as if this was true. Speaking of jokes, I had the worst bowling score two games in a row. Chrys made a joke that I should be good because I'm American and it's a huge American past-time. Well, this may be true but I've only bowled a handful of times and I started in college. If I have anything to put on my defense, it could be that the starting line to the foul line was really, really short. I didn't really get a good start at any time, but that's enough excuses. I just suck at bowling. Maybe I'll find some luck next time...
The next person I said goodbye to is Véronique. She's Didier's younger sister, but not the youngest. She's been visiting for the past few days as she hadn't really had time to in the past. She's a recent divorcée so time is now at her leisure. I don't know what it is about me but I find that most people tell me really personal things about their lives. I never ask...Maybe it's the bartender in me that people feel comfortable talking to. Anyway, I had had another spat with Andréa previously and was crying so instead of me consoling Véronique, she came to my aid. I was extremely sick due to all of the stress I was going through so Véronique took care of me and pretty much took care of the house. I'm so thankful to her. She might be old enough to be my mother but when I talk to her, I feel as if she's ageless. She's definitely someone I can see being my girlfriend for life. I truly love this woman and I've only known her for a week. Her mini-vacation was coming to a close though and she had to get back to her cottage and pets. She came and found me in the dining room before she took off, grabbed me, gave me a big hug, and told me she hoped me the best. This was the type of hug I had mentioned before--the hug that Hannah gave me the day that I was leaving for France. It's the sort of hug that you can really feel the love in, the type that makes tears well up in your eyes whether you're happy or sad, the hug that you will never forget. I don't know if it's because she's a mom or not, but Véronique gives great hugs--and I hate hugs!!! I miss her already...But she promised she'd accept my friend request on Facebook and we'd keep in touch. I hope so. I really hope so...
Andréa came and picked me up tonight as maman was getting home. I was still kind of sad from seeing everyone leave so it was good that he decided to do something different tonight. He took me bowling! This is one of the nicer bowling alleys I've seen with a central bar in a wide open building. The bowling lanes were directly in the back of the building, with the restaurant at the right, huge arcade on the left, and at least a dozen pool tables sitting at the front of the building. I met three of Andréa's friends that I had never met before. Chrys and Momo work with Andréa while Alicia is Chrys' girlfriend. They are one of the few friends that I've met who are not timid at all. They didn't care that they didn't know me and that I don't speak french well, they acted like they knew me their entire lives and joked with me as if this was true. Speaking of jokes, I had the worst bowling score two games in a row. Chrys made a joke that I should be good because I'm American and it's a huge American past-time. Well, this may be true but I've only bowled a handful of times and I started in college. If I have anything to put on my defense, it could be that the starting line to the foul line was really, really short. I didn't really get a good start at any time, but that's enough excuses. I just suck at bowling. Maybe I'll find some luck next time...
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