bastille day

last year at this time, on this day, jane arrives in paris, without me. i am still in rwanda at that moment - and we chat whilst i sip french press coffee on the terrace overlooking kigali. she arrives safe and tells me that yes, all of my quirky hotel requests for our french love nest have been met. i plan to join her the following day after traipsing through nairobi, bruxelles, and finally onto the capital.

jane enjoys that day in the most carefree way ... drinking wine, sipping coffee, eating cheese, exploring on foot, chatting to strangers ... a small slice of heaven for her, and a treat to be alone for a few hours while traveling. by the time i arrive in france some twenty-four hours later, she is settled in and super relaxed, asking me to call in my breakfast order from the metro as i near the hotel so she can have it waiting for me in the room.

simpler times, for certain. in fact, we have dinner with our parisien friends, david-alexandre and aurelie, who we met originally in india. over dinner at (how clichéd) a charming french bistro (the real deal), we end up talking about the proliferation of cancers amongst young people - our peers. it seems to be as common to that side of the atlantic as it is to our own left bank. we certainly could not have projected that jane would include herself in this group just a few months later.

the incredible amount of support we receive from these friends, as well as all of our other friends scattered across the globe, is amazing and inspiring. having met people throughout our travels, as well as during the period we lived in the city, we are able to share our lives with those residing in far-flung countries. made particularly more efficient these days with texting, skype-ing, video chatting, and email.

so we think back fondly to last year's bastille day and allow that happy memory to further sustain us and make us realize that yes, we have truly taken advantage and relished all those good moments - and plan to continue to do so for a long, long time!!!

what a difference a year makes ...

we tend to measure time by marking dates, and their recurrence - 'measuring' past points against where we are today. we actually find ourselves in the same locale today that we enjoyed last year on the first of july (canada day) - appropriately, in canada. at the home of gilda and morris. bike riding and having dinner with cheryl and andré (superb!).

last year at this time, our lives are very different however. i am preparing to leave for africa, jane is readying herself to meet me in paris, and we are basking in the afterglow of marlee's bat mitzvah. the kids have just left for summer camp (as they have this year) and we have seven weeks of action packed days at that time, to be capped with a family trip to israel.

this year, we are staying put. we are regrouping, thankfully feeling as if jane has fully recovered and is back on track - exercise, diet, hair growth, good post-cancer regime. now it's time for us to each focus on what we would like to accomplish with our work - our career goals and aspirations. so instead of looking towards a summer of levity, we are thinking about a summer of accomplishments. and it's exciting and energizing for both of us.

but first, there is ice cream in them-there hills! so we will sadly kiss our hosts goodbye, and begin the long, leisurely drive home ... stopping for a cold treat half-way at our new favorite ice cream spot north of albany. oh, the joy of chocolate peanut butter! they claim it's ninety calories per serving - we do not believe this nor do we care!

summer now begins in earnest ...

dance, dance, dance

we have been, for the most part, off of the party circuit lately. evenings out have consisted pretty much of time with close friends, quiet dinners, or walks in the city. jane is doing really, really well post surgery, and it is definitely another marker on the road back ... and it feels good.

today we have the opportunity to be at the bar mitzvah of close friends. what is particularly inspiring in this case is the closeness and participatory nature of the family - everyone is supportive, humorous, funny, and committed. grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles - everyone takes part in the ceremony, and not in a perfunctory way ... really connected to the bar mitzvah boy and the program at hand.

this spirit continues into the evening party, which has a 60's theme. jane dons new duds, purchased during a recent outing we had at h&m - she's sporting a long, red wig (thanks dani!), bell bottoms, flower power top, tattoos - and looks great! we dance the night away, have fun with our own friends, rock to the music - and bask in the glow coming from the host family. they are totally into the whole theme, doing oh-so-bad rhyme candlelightings (too hysterical!) and vamping it up in amazing costumes. it's great seeing a group of people who are 'up' and happy like this - as inspirational to us as anything we can think of.

so thanks levines for showing us a great time, a bright spot of late. topped off with genuine ladurée macarons from paris, delivered by ruth (she's the best!) - not too shabby!

take a flying leap ...

the 29th of february ... it only happens once every four years, leaving whole gaps of time between the repetition of this date. think of all that happens in those 1,460 days that comprise the 'year'.

a lot of action takes place in the regular calendar, without such idiosyncrasies! would you take a flying leap and erase the negative, knowing that you'd have to give up the positive too? kind of like throwing out the baby with the bathwater (although if you are cognisant of the fact that the baby becomes a teenager, maybe you would throw it out with the bathwater!).

so for example, in 2007, jane has the misfortune of receiving a bad diagnosis, being remedied (once and for all!) right now. but would we discard ALL of 2007 to avoid this turn of events? yes, it is pretty awful, but given the choice of a magic wand which could eradicate that, along with EVERYTHING else in the calendar year - well, i don't know about that.

in said past year, we see marlee celebrate (beautifully) her bat mitzvah, along with our nephew josh - amazing. jared graduates middle school and moves onto high school. our family takes a journey through magical morocco, and we even manage to stop in paris for a weekend. we have amazing weekends with the abdulezers. we see our friends and our friends' kids celebrate major milestones. we host an inspiring parlor evening for jdc. we make new friends, encounter new work challenges. we see the kids on visiting day at camp, laughing and happy and tanned. we end the summer with a fantastic journey to israel. jane and i bike through paris in the summer and see a late movie in st. germain des pres. in the beginning of the year, i don't even know where rwanda is - and by december i've been awed by two visits.

a lot can happen in a year - whether it be 365 or 1,460 days. so in this, the most gregorian of days, i resist the urge to take a flying leap ... and just stay put with what we've got.

shabbat shalom!

h

pret a porter

would you believe, it's the car in the shop -
the mini again, oh when will it stop?
we called up vw, said 'one beetle please',
the cooper has really brought us to our knees!

first it caused cancer, of that we are sure,
now motors for wiper blades, that is the cure -
so goodbye dear bad luck charm, hope that we're through,
and with a volkswagen all that's old will be new ...

jane is okay, and feeling quite well,
she's eager for next week, of that i can tell -
for chemo to finish, and be on her way ...
she's definitely looking beyond that friday -

out at the theater with marlee and friends,
a girls night passes, then home in a benz,
legally blonde tonight, and then another,
on saturday with more young gals (and no brothers)

so the boys, we are left to fend for ourselves,
out to a french bistro with wine on the shelves -
some frisée and frites, and good mustard too,
some lamb for dear andi, that cost thirty-two!

we laugh and we chat, while the ladies do play,
and then onto rite-aid for snacks, by the way,
we boys cozied up, all lying on one bed,
to watch bourne identity (all characters - dead!)

jane sees that i am slowing going insane,
and says to me 'why don't you get on a plane'
to paris, you'll go - you could leave tomorrow,
and then you will not be feeling all full of sorrow -

i think about it, make myself well - by the seine,
and then i think about the plan once again,
with air france there's flights, as that's there forté,
too bad that this weekend's the pret a porter ...

not a room to be had, a pity for sure,
so i guess i'll stay home and help with the cure,
a trip we will take, perhaps in the summer,
when we feel as if we're not deep in a bummer

to addis ababa? ethiopian jews?
or cairo and luxor, to see ancient views?
a drive deep in napa, or marfa's artworks,
perhaps back to istanbul, visiting turks!

so good night, my dear friend,
we're nearing the end -
we wish you our best,
and please, get some rest!

shakespeare in love

valium, o' valium - wherefore art thou?

whether 'tis nobler in the mind, to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune (well, you get the picture) ...

cabin fever - walls closing in - life upside down - mayhem - run for the hills ... not quite, actually, just a mini-sense of confinement and temporary insanity. jane is tired but actually okay, just in time for next friday's final dose (insidious clear deadly liquid otherwise known as chemo). whatever will we order from netflix for the big event. it's been a long path; somehow the yellow brick road is losing it's luster! but we go on, life goes on, it's all just a bit much ...

the kids - doing great, doing their thing, being teens and almost-teens. actually quite pleasant of late, surely a result of their status as official loafers for the past ten days. it's seems as if it's ratcheted down the frenzy, which is good! tomorrow i will enjoy the boys in the evening, while jane and marlee get treated (thanks donna & sarah!) to a wonderful evening out in the city ... dinner, then a broadway show (legally blonde) - lucky them, girls night out in nyc! [how will jane stay awake past 9 - i know i sure can't!].

in the meantime, dreaming of paris and a walk along the seine ...