Lindsey, newsletter # 62
Nantes, Sunday 1st of January, 10-00.
Happy New Year! At last… 2017.
A party put an end to our annus horribilis.
But before it ended we had to have one last bad news. Our friend Jean Vrignaud died two days after Christmas.
Jean and his wife Nadine lived in Bouin, on the coast and one hour away from us. Jean was a sailor and a carpenter. We shared some sailing and some fishing with him and Nadine over the past few years. They had embarked, three years ago, on a fantastic project: they had bought a boat, or rather a hull, in Oregon. Their goal was to put it back into shape and then sail it down past the North-American Pacific coast to winter in Mexico, then cross via the Panama canal to the Atlantic and then keep on sailing around Saint-Barthélemy.
They were therefore sharing their time between working in France to make the money they needed, and working on the river Columbia where the boat was. We saw the photographs showing how, little by little, Jean’s craftsmanship produced a beautiful inside and a seaworthy outside. But there was one weak point: the engine. Twice they had tried to get out of the river, but twice the engine failed on them so they had to postpone: sail back to the pontoon and work on the engine.
This year Jean was diagnosed cancer. We saw Jean and Nadine over the autumn a couple of times and it was of course logical to feel that we were sharing a common battle. Lindsey was therefore very shaken, on Tuesday, to find out that her teammate had lost his own struggle.
We went to Bouin on the next day (28th) to see Nadine. Lindsey wasn’t strong enough, emotionally, to go to the funeral which took place in the massive and intimidating church of Bouin on Friday. Vikki made the trip with me, through heavy fog.
By then we had reached the Château.
One of the goals I had set when in Korea was to have a big Christmas party to which many would be able to join. Christmas itself proved too difficult so we chose these dates, found somewhere large enough to host the more than 20 that were expected.
So on Wednesday, in the Château de la Bergelière, in the middle of the village of La Flocelière, we all met up. Lindsey, Boris, Vikki and I were joined by Jill, Georgie, Archie, Harry, Julie, Ian, Brook and Alfie from England, Susi, Ramon, Aitana and Mateo from Spain, Lali, Luis, Corinne, Robin, Diego and Charlene from France…
What a crowd! Luckily this Château had many rooms, a large dining room, a huge kitchen and a fire to recover from the very cold weather. This meant that Lindsey has been looked after by many more than usual. She seemed to be holding court, laying in her bed or in an armchair, with 4 or 5 attendants seeking to please her. All this is of course tiring for her. But the comfort offered to her is of course more important.
One year ago (only!) we were discovering Kyoto, cycling from our home in Takeda, struggling to understand what was contained in the very strange bags and boxes in the supermarket. By this time we had already prayed in temples and shrines, beaten the Mochi, and explored our world. It is of course so difficult to grasp how things could have changed so much, so fast.
So 2016 has certainly been a strange year. I called it annus horribilis at the start of this post. But the term wouldn’t tell the whole story. At many moments it has been an annus mirabilis: there was so much happiness in Japan, and even since we are back, the shows of affection, of love, which we have received can of course not outweigh the illness and the worry. But they also are part of our 2016.
Love
Lindsey, newsletter # 63
La Flocelière, Monday 2nd of January, 10-00… but put online Saturday 6th 19-00
This post was to contain pictures from the massive 31st we held in our Château… I am still hoping for more pictures and will keep adding them. I have even added a movie filmed by Ian’s drone which gives an idea of the place we were in.
It was suggested that Downton Abbey should be the theme for the 31st. This was to fit the scenery: the Château. So some effort was done to produce the proper costumes. Sadly Lindsey wasn’t able to be with us until 23h45 where we brought her down to toast the new year.
Lindsey was actually in good shape. The main problem seems to have to do with audition: everything seems very loud to her, so of course, a dining room with more than 20 persons seems too much.
Lindsey, newsletter # 64
Nantes, Friday 6th of January, 20-00
2 done, 3 to go.
On Wednesday we saw the oncologist. As expected she saw Lindsey as much stronger. There was therefore no other option than that of starting the next round of treatment. So yesterday she had her pills of chimio. This goes for 5 days.
We all know that it is going to be exhausting.
Yesterday all went well. Lindsey had Melissandre with her all afternoon (mental note… we want a picture of Lindsey with Melissandre) so she was again reboosted.
Today went well also, but it was clearly harder in the evening.
2 done, 3 to go.
Lindsey, newsletter # 65
Nantes, Sunday 15th of January, 20-00
Time flies…
The 5 days of the treatment went past, with a reasonable amount of peace.
The following days have been very reasonable: Lindsey wakes up very well and is now going down for breakfast. Then, some days she is very active doing some cleaning, sorting out; some days she just relaxes watching « game of thrones »; some days she goes back to bed.
Afternoon will start with a sleep if there hasn’t been one in the morning. On Tuesday and Thursday Mélissandre comes to look after Lindsey. Both seem to get on very well together. Mélissandre is very young, very quiet, very sweet.
On Friday and Saturday we managed to have a long walk, to Cambronne’s and back, profiting from the sun rays you can get early in the afternoon.
The visitor of the week has been Luisa. Luisa is Luisa’s daughter. From Alicante.
Letters and flowers arrived.
Routine it is. But sometimes routine can be nice. For the first time since the summer, I feel that routine is nice.
Love
Lindsey, newsletter # 66
Nantes, Monday 23rd of January, 23-00
The week went by with few novelties. We have now got the administration in control: most of the issues are now well understood. We still have to deal with the insurances which were so unhelpful in Korea… That will take time.
Lindsey is more and more active. The very cold weather of the past few days hasn’t allowed us to go out much, but we have been able to reach Cambronne’s tomb a couple of times. When we go, we usually bring a flower or two… Someone may be wondering who is depositing these flowers…
Lindsey is being able to concentrate more and more. She will be able to watch an entire film. We have also started playing again. For the moment it’s dominoes. No major mistakes are made even if there is a lot of stress! She will play with anyone available. I think she has beaten everyone but Mélissandre. For some reason Lindsey always seems to play into Mélissandre’s hand, and therefore loses.
Vikki has flown off to Morocco. So Boris has come instead to spend a week. I am hoping he will help to sort things out. We just seem to be collecting stuff. From time to time I attempt to pick things up but I end up desperate in front of the amount of things hoarded, over the past few months or before.
I even think that some of the guests over the past few weeks have decided to forget things in order to confuse us even more!
I still have several pictures from last month to publish. These are the ones I took on new year’s day. Frost and fog made a very strange mixture!
Love
Lindsey, newsletter # 67
Nantes, Sunday 29th of January, 22-15. (Actually, this is written in Font-Romeu…)
And another week. Again, « no news is good news ». Progress is steady. Each day a bit better than the previous one.
Luis and Corinne arrived yesterday and were very impressed with the difference when comparing with less than a month ago.
I have been able to diminish the quantity of cortisone, and keep Lindsey in a comfort zone without over doing the pain killers. There still are speech issues and Lindsey needs a lot of sleep, but things are much better.
This is allowing Lindsey to do each day more. After some games of dominoes, she moved on to Carcassonne. Carcassonne is much more complex (more options, more strategy) so it was a very interesting test. As can be seen from the picture… Not bad.
On Saturday morning we managed to go to the market. At some point between the fish and the meat, Lindsey was too tired (the market, on a Saturday morning, can be very busy). So it was proposed that she waited outside the market with Boris while I was buying the duck (the duck would deserve a post entry in its own right… We celebrated the Chinese new year with roast Pekin duck, or canard laqué in French).
So when I finished with the meat I went out, only to find Lindsey trying on coats. The woman convinced her that the Italian style required wearing them large. I was of a different opinion but Lindsey was delighted with her new coat, as you can see in a picture.
I took the risk of moving about… To Oxford for one night (Thursday) and now to the Pyrenees for 2 nights. Promises and obligations. But being away is hard.
Love