Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

Retour

                         

Yann returns to France next week, we will join him soon after. Summer vacation with my family, is coming to an end! I know we are fortunate, maybe even spoiled, to spend two and a half months in California, it is a gift I do not take lightly. Our suitcases are too small for all the memories we want to take back, our hearts are heavier too. The wall of depression seems to lurk at us, as Sacha proclaims,

"This is the best summer vacation ever!"

The gateway to another culture, another language beckons us…come home!

This will be one of the hardest departures, I cannot imagine saying goodbye, let alone boarding the plane! Living in France is good, but it doesn’t make saying goodbye to my family any easier.

I wish the distance between us was only a walk around the block, and not a flight across the ocean. The joy we have had in seeing those we love each day, to be able to be part of their lives and celebrate the daily bread of experiences together. Their love is my lifeline!

As Joan Armatrady sings:

"I’m lucky, I’m lucky I can walk under ladders!"

photo: A gate in the French village where we live, that leads down to the river closeby our home.

Comments

26 responses to “Retour”

  1. Linda

    I wish the same thing. I have alot of guilt about not being closer to my family.

    Reply
  2. Kristy

    Remember Corey that’s the joy about memories they need nothing to contain them and we can keep as many as we like 🙂

    Reply
  3. Paris Parfait

    Yes those transatlantic flights are the worst! I feel the wrench constantly, w/ my daughter in the US and us in France. But you can carry all those lovely memories and photographs from this summer home with you – and no extra baggage allowance required!

    Reply
  4. Carol

    Aww I can imagine how torn you must feel! *Sigh* Do they ever come to France to visit you as well?
    Reading this I feel so grateful that I live in the same city in which my family (parents, sisters and their families) live!

    Reply
  5. Jeanne

    I know all to well the heartache of good-byes again.
    We just sent our two that live in Asia away at airports to go home to where they live now and I sobbed for days.
    My son will be back this way briefly in August and the second good bye will be horrible!
    I am much better at hello’s.
    Big hugs to you darling one.
    Embrace every golden memory!
    I love you!

    Reply
  6. Nancy

    Oh, my heart aches for you! I live in the same United States with all that is left of my family – my sister and her kids and my daughter – but none are closer than 9-13 hours away by car. I cry for *days*
    after I see them! I cannot imagine living across the ocean from them. Lucky you to have had a summer with your loved ones. I only get a few days here and there and it kills me. The pain of goodbye usually hides it weepy face until I am actually on the road and then the tears flow and threaten my ability to focus on the road. The only thing that gets me through is knowing I will get to come home again…….not as much as I would like but still blessed to be able to do so. Enjoy your last few nostalgic days and carry the good times and memories
    as a warm blanket around your heart. {{{HUGS!}}}

    Reply
  7. ParisBreakfasts

    Hey Girl, maybe you just need to read some of your own posts like LITTLE FLOWER. Everyday is a new day Corey and I know you’ll make something beautiful out of it and then share it with us 🙂

    Reply
  8. cruststation

    Even reading your entries everyday we feel like we’ve known you for a long time. Distance is not much when we have the memories and your family is only a phone call away. My siblings are on opposite sides of the world, though it is difficult we manage to keep in touch. Thank you for sharing everyday of your holiday with us, you really have such a wonderful family!

    Reply
  9. blackbird

    sweet sorrow.
    don’t ever say goodbye, say
    see you later…

    Reply
  10. Lisa S

    I can’t get enough of your photos! I’m so addicted to them! Fantastic!

    Reply
  11. Kerstin

    Having lived across one ocean or another away from my family for more than a decade I can sympathize with the heartache and longing.
    How lucky that we seem to have big hearts, able to accommodate different places and cultures, turning them into our homes, too. It is apparent from your writing that a part of your heart is firmly planted in France where it will continue to grow and blossom, of that I have no doubt.
    Bon voyage!

    Reply
  12. jennifer

    what a wonderful vacation you have had, it must be so hard to leave and yet the draw of “home”

    Reply
  13. la vie en rose

    it must be hard to have your heart split in two right down the middle…

    Reply
  14. renee

    Don’t go! Being that your blog has become a daily part of my routine, and being that I am in the general area of your summer retreat, I’ve had a fleeting little wish or two that we could meet. It’ll be nice again however to know you are home. And never again will I complain about the relatively short, dusty road trip between me and my kin.

    Reply
  15. Kit

    It’s so great to have been able to spend enough time to share the everyday, mundane living with family though. It’s always the breakfast of the morning after the celebration dinner that brings out the best conversations and the realest yous, slippers and unbrushed hair and thoughts.
    A wrench to leave though.
    I’m trying to remember a quote – something about – the hardest place is the line where two lives meet. Once you’re over the line back into your other life the pain recedes again. Enjoy the rest of your time there.

    Reply
  16. diana

    oh… I kinda know what you are talking about… the ache will indeed receed when you return to France… oh but what wonderful memories you have made with your sweet family and dh and kiddos…the best of both worlds !!

    Reply
  17. berrie

    Safe Travels my friend! I’ve so enjoyed your vacation right along with you;o) xo

    Reply
  18. Amber

    I know it will be hard to leave, and yet also good to be home in France. You are sort of stuck between a rice feild and a vinyard. 😉
    I sure am glad you fit me in. You better believe I will want to see you again next year. 😉
    🙂

    Reply
  19. Shelley

    Corey,,I look so forward to your visits, this summer seems to have flown bye and I treasure the time I got to spend with you. We seem to have endless conversations and laughs.I am aready looking forward to seeing you next summer. Have a safe trip home my friend!!

    Reply
  20. susan@artstream

    it is not good bye. it is a bientot. and of course the heart can not say good bye.
    oooh joan armatrading… i finally saw her two years ago and she is as wonderful as i imagined she would be!
    hang on to those hugs … and squeeze them tight!

    Reply
  21. Jill

    You’ve had a joyous summer, yes? Nevertheless, it’s always hard to say goodbye. I’ll be saying it, too – I’m visiting my daughter, son-in-law and baby grandson in NY but will soon be on my way home to CA. How difficult it is to live so far apart from loved ones!

    Reply
  22. heidi

    i have just stumbled upon, poured through and absolutely loved every minute i spent on your blog. you have a beautiful spirit. i will be back for more inspiration.
    i just vacationed with my family and the last thing my daughter said as we left was “i miss you already.”

    Reply
  23. michelle

    I will miss you, Corey, and I know that Travis will miss Sacha, they really bonded this year….Looking forward to Fort Bragg next year!!!!
    Love reading your blog!

    Reply
  24. Connie

    Cory
    I am so happy that you had such a lovely vacation. It is always hard to leave the family. Hopefully the wonderful memories you have collected in your heart will tide you over till you can visit again.
    Take care,
    Connie

    Reply
  25. mary ann

    “parting (can be) sweet sorrow”…
    like someone mentioned before…it’s “a bientot”…your family lives in your heart & soul…
    🙂 mary ann xo

    Reply
  26. JinxTheGypsy

    I know..I hate good bye’s too. But then you have beautiful memories to take with you… until the next time.

    Reply

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