country mouse and city mouse

bedtime story...

Two-month update

On our kitchen table today sits a bottle of kid's champagne, ready for a toast tonight to celebrate Gilles' return to health. Not only was his dialysis catheter removed this morning, leaving him impermeable like the rest of us for the first time in many months, but a hospital van came to pick up all the dialysis gear that was stacked around our bedroom and kitchen. These two events are symbolic for us, and two months down the road from his kidney transplant, as I looked at the new lack of medical equipment in our living space, I felt a two-year chapter in our lives coming to a close. Gilles still has a heavy check-up schedule, and the new challenge to face of devising a profession that will allow him to stay as healthy as he can for as long as possible. His kidney illness is not gone, but the healthy kidney he has now can work perfectly well for many years to come. And he feels good, very alive again. Our whole family feels lighter.

Gilles was not always a barrel of laughs these past couple of years, but very few people would know that. He was positive and uncomplaining with the people he encountered, a real favorite with the medical staff (i.e. nurses), a compassionate ear to the team of taxi drivers who drove him back and forth to so many minor and major hospital appointments, and lately a source of reassurance to patients he has met who are at stages in their illness that Gilles has already been through. These people became a part of our lives and I have the impression that they will not soon forget Gilles' sense of humor, spirit and genuine interest in others, nor his cheerful flute playing on the nephrology ward.

What's next? We're ready to find out.

lights and shades

ha! ha! ha!...

all hallows...

The perfect Halloween night: balmy and warm (no rain gear cluttering up the costumes) with a big harvest moon. We were a jolly bunch tramping down the hill and through the streets of the village. I love the enthusiasm at the fifteen or so loyal houses who wait for us on Halloween. One family on holiday at their country house here always greet us warmly; this year they had carved dozens of jack-o-lanterns in all variety of squashes. The garden wall and each window were all lit up with ghoulish grins. They called the old grandma to come and see the costumes; she especially liked Gilles' zombie get-up.