Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

Living Life Thankfully

A few days ago Sacha (14) popped a wheelie on his bike and flipped over, landing flat on his back on the sidewalk. Our neighbors saw it happen, Raba ran to Sacha, and told Sacha not to move, his wife came to tell us what had happened. Sacha was fine, he had the air knocked out of him, that was all.

The next day, to say thank you to our neighbors, for their attention given to Sacha, we took them a basket of black cherries, that we picked that afternoon.

 

Last night, our neighbors came by to say thank you for the cherries, bringing us some cookies that they made, cookies from their homeland in Algeria.

Aren’t they beautiful? Delicious, almond orange delicacies, only a few remain!

The pattern of thank you, layers of giving and receiving, creating friendship. How lucky I am to live amongst people who watch out for one another and who bake cookies!

Comments

51 responses to “Living Life Thankfully”

  1. Paris Parfait

    Ah cookies! They look wonderful. And what terrific neighbours you have and what good neighbours you are to them! Lovely post about appreciating small gestures of kindness and care. Thank you!

    Reply
  2. Shannon Lewis

    I was waiting for a thank you gift for those beautiful cookies. Thank you’s can go on forever….how fun! 🙂
    And how lucky are you to have a cherry tree in your backyard 🙂

    Reply
  3. susan@artesprit

    good neighbors are the icing on your cookies or cake. we are blessed with wonderful neighbors on all sides here…
    i can’t decide which i like better, the roses or the cookies! ok, i like BOTH!
    glad sasha is ok, those bike wheelies …..

    Reply
  4. susan@artesprit

    good neighbors are the icing on your cookies or cake. we are blessed with wonderful neighbors on all sides here…
    i can’t decide which i like better, the roses or the cookies! ok, i like BOTH!
    glad sasha is ok, those bike wheelies …..

    Reply
  5. mab

    good morning,
    such a lovely post today;
    and yes, thank yous are wonderful, aren’t they? They are so infectious and their meanings do so much. Your neighbors sound delightful, and cherries and homemade cookies sound scrumptious!
    I am so happy Sacha (love his name) is okay; kids! they put us through it, eh?
    Have a wonderful day!
    hugs,
    mab

    Reply
  6. mary ann

    good deeds & kindness are not soon fogotten! so glad that sacha is all right…no broken bones.
    yes, i agree with you corey!
    :)mary ann

    Reply
  7. Dawn

    I am glad your son is fine. It is comforting to have neighbors like that…we live in smalltown, USA…and when the boys are on leave or the grands come to visit..the neighbors bring cookies-warm from the oven.
    Those treats looked very special! I can imagine how yummy they tasted!

    Reply
  8. Lee

    Absolutely! Save me one. I’ll be right over…

    Reply
  9. Fortiesbaby

    Sweets for the sweet Corey.
    You are lucky.There is a saying..”to have a good neighbour..be a good neighbour”…you obviously do just that, which is why people care about you and yours.

    Reply
  10. cruststation

    Those cookies look beautiful! It is a joy to receive, but a greater joy to give and watch the happiness on the recipient’s faces.

    Reply
  11. andrea

    Oh I am so glad your son is ok. What delightful neighbors and something I have missed terribly. The cookies look devine!
    a.

    Reply
  12. Cookie

    In the cookie of life, friends are the chocolate chips.

    Reply
  13. Joanne

    What a sweet story, and thankfully such a great outcome!
    Those cookies do look so
    elegant and what a diverse culture you are privileged to experience Corey!

    Reply
  14. Annie

    To be a good neighbor is the right thing to do. To HAVE a good neighbor is a blessing. Glad to hear that Sacha is no worse for the accident. I need to go looking for an orange almond recipe.

    Reply
  15. Jeanne

    I am happy to hear your son is well………..Thank goodness for nice neighbors and the love of people in our life with kind loving and genuine hearts the only people I associate with!
    Blessings
    I love your photographs and words that move me with each reading!
    Love Jeanne
    back to my garden it beckons me!

    Reply
  16. linda

    Corey….what a sweet post! isn’t it true that one good deed begets another? life is funny that way. just think if everyone did that what a harmonious world it would be! love the thought!

    Reply
  17. susan

    I’m beginning to believe you live in an alternate universe, Corey. One where much more magic happens than in the “real” world.
    🙂

    Reply
  18. snowsparkle

    i agree with susan… you live a very charmed life… i’m sure much of this is generated by the kindness and compassion you bring into the world around you.

    Reply
  19. Josephine

    Yes, those are beautiful delights!
    In the end, only kindness matters.

    Reply
  20. sky

    gosh, i wish we had neighbors like that! the neighbors we enjoyed the most moved to colorado last year and left a huge hole where they once lived! 🙁

    Reply
  21. jennifer

    I’ve always been really blessed with good neighbors. Your flowers, cookies, cherries are all photographed so beautiful! I just love reading your blog each day.

    Reply
  22. Tash

    We are so lucky here too, to have caring neighbours whom we can talk to over the fence. Since one lot of neighbours garden too, we share tips, seeds, seedlings and laughs, all over the garden fence, usually on a sunday 🙂
    Neighbours are such an important part of a community – it’s so sad that nowadays many don’t know theirs (but I make up for that by being as nice as I can to both sides ;-))

    Reply
  23. eurobrat

    Those are beautiful cookies!

    Reply
  24. suse

    Those Algerian biscuits look divine. It’s hard to believe they’re homemade!
    I’m glad your son is fine.

    Reply
  25. teresa

    when we bought our 100 year old house – from the people across the street – we did a lot of the remodel ourselves.
    molly was just a toddler.
    Mr tal and mrs sarah would cook and bring food for dinner over to us. a gallon of “sweet tea” would magically appear. Mr tal still cuts the grass if he notices it’s needed.
    There are so many beautiful people in my life. I think today i may just celebrate some of them.
    Thanks for the inspiration.

    Reply
  26. Britt-Arnhild

    Good neighbours are a blessing. You are lucky, and your neighbours are lucky 🙂 Beautiful photos.

    Reply
  27. naturegirl

    A true example of “the circle of love”…yummy cherries! 🙂
    Our 2 cherry trees not ripened as yet.

    Reply
  28. Ulla

    Amen – The world turns because of friendship…

    Reply
  29. Uncle Mathew

    How far did Sacha ride his wheelie before he fell?

    Reply
  30. AscenderRisesAbove

    ohhhh I have neighbor envy

    Reply
  31. wishes&Heros

    I am so ungry at the moment and those cookies look so good.
    It’s nice to have neighbours like that.

    Reply
  32. mab

    oh that sacha on his flying machine!!! cool!
    hugs,
    mab

    Reply
  33. amy rue

    Oh! I’m glad that your son is alright! Those cookies look like they are waiting for faeries to come and have a nibble underneath your gorgeous roses. Good neighbors are so wonderful to have… we are blessed with good neighbors too!

    Reply
  34. am*

    a thank you for a thank you and thank you for sharing. smiles forming upwards, little happy tears bubbling up from the corners – always, you say it just right.

    Reply
  35. Bev Hammer

    Good neighbors and a good neighborhood are to be treasured.
    I was blessed that for many years, my two sisters and my mother and I lived on the same end of a dead end road, all in our separate houses of course.
    In 1949, my parents bought half of a block, consisting of about 24 or so lots. (the price was around $5,000. )When we three daughters married we were each given three lots to put a home on. We did, and it was wonderful to live close and have our children grow up as neighbors.

    Reply
  36. mb

    Beauty of so many kinds here…

    Reply
  37. Kit

    I love your blog – stunning photos, poetic posts, light beaming out all over.

    Reply
  38. la vie en rose

    the cookies look divine! i’m so glad to hear that sacha wasn’t hurt but man just reading your story sent chills down my spine…

    Reply
  39. Gina

    What amazing photos, love the flying in the clouds look of the first, thy eye in the berries of the next and the yummy shaped and shiney goods of the third.

    Reply
  40. Cat

    Daring young men – 14yr olds! My youngest dare-devil is 16 now.
    So nice to have good neighbors who keep an eye out, and it sounds like the good just keeps passing on. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  41. diana

    Those cookies look yummy… but I think those roses in the blue willow vase…
    they are divine ! I love my neighbors too ..
    the little 6 year old just brought me a bouquet of flowers she picked to thank me for coming to her musical… so sweet

    Reply
  42. julie

    Oh, Corey…I did the same when I was Sacha’s age (I was a notorious tomboy)…I’m so glad he wasn’t hurt!
    How wonderful of you to give your friends fresh cherries and how wonderful of them to reciprocate with those absolutely divine looking treats!!!! I’m drooling, LOL…

    Reply
  43. expatraveler

    Wow – not good about your son but I guess he’s at a daring age. Those cookies look incredible. They remind me of a store I loved when I was in paris as I used to snatch up a few things that were all things ethnic.. Yummy!

    Reply
  44. amber

    Oh, that is so, so nice! Those are beautiful and YUMMY looking.
    🙂

    Reply
  45. lauren

    Sacha! You wicked wicked child! Giving your parents and your neighbors such a fright. Were you punished? haha! It’s obvious you are your (cliff hanging) Father’s son, eh Corey? Daredevils both I see.
    As for those cookies? I will email you about that one…
    l

    Reply
  46. Connie

    Thank goodness kids have such wonderful guardian angels. Glad Sacha is okay.
    Having good neighbors is like having a pot of gold. Love the cookies.
    Take care,
    Connie

    Reply
  47. susan

    Awesome shot of Sacha on his bike! Tell him he looks COOOOOOL.

    Reply
  48. Franca Bollo

    Great crop on the first photo. Very effective, giving it a sense of speed and capturing the emphemerality of the moment. And the touch of red at his back … you couldn’t have planned that any better.
    On the downside, I’ve done that … popped a wheelie only to discover I pulled back way to hard. No doubt, it hurts. Kiss the back of Sacha’s head for me.

    Reply
  49. lauren

    O.k! FINE! I will be the one to declare out loud that the “Emperor wears no clothes”… That cookie looks like a…
    BOOB!
    There. Happy now Corey? You got your wish.
    rofl

    Reply
  50. shelley

    COREY,
    IM GLAD SASHA IS ALL RIGHT.THE COOKIES LOOK YUMMY AND IS THAT A FLOW BLUE VASE I SEE WITH ROSES IN IT?????

    Reply
  51. La Fée Coriandre – Sofia

    yes that’s good I eate some yesterday at the brocante …uhhmmmm !!! 🙂

    Reply

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