Gratitude

Returning home from Seattle with precious memories of the lovely wedding of my niece and her long-time beau and of the delightful family reunion that the wedding occasioned, I barely had time to get over jet lag when I experienced another moment of gratitude. Three of my friends had organized a surprise birthday party, managing to get in touch with people from the various parts of my life here in France, people they only knew from conversations with me.  Somehow they managed to connect with them by email or phone.  It was a truly delightful surprise.  And now I have a beautiful collage of the photos that those most amazing people in my life sent in.

Basking in all those magical moments, I reflect on the feeling of gratitude…  How grateful I am to have all these members of my family, whether related by blood or by shared connections, interests and values.  How grateful I am for all the wonderful people I have met in the past and have stayed connected with and for those I continue to meet all of whom enrich my life in the present with their friendship, their smiles and sometimes sorrows, their support when I need it, whether I know it or not.  I am also grateful for people who show up when a problem arises and stay connected after it’s been solved.  From all these people I have learned and continue to learn about the true meaning of friendship, one of those gifts in life that “give value to survival,” according to author and theologian C.S. Lewis.

I am also grateful for the fact that my love of history and my still functioning brain keep me challenged and able to find new paths to explore.  My fascination with the life of Madame de la Peltrie and how she managed her money across the Atlantic Ocean in a time without wire transfers has not quite ended since I will be giving a talk at the The Museum of French Emigration to Canada, in Tourouvre, a couple of hours from Dieppe, on November 16 at the annual meeting of the Friends of the Perche.  This year my interest in French women in 17^th century France led me to explore the history of the convents of several religious congregations in Dieppe at that time.  My presentation on the topic is scheduled for this Saturday October 19 at the annual conference of the Federation of Historical and Archeological Societies of Normandie in Le Havre.

And now this same interest is leading me to start learning about the lives of that very small, but remarkable (at least to me) group of Daughters of the King who confessed to being Protestants.  Twelve are listed in Yves Landry’s inventory of the King’s Daughters, most of them from La Rochelle, but two were from Rouen!  Who were all these women?  Why did they choose to leave with those other courageous women even though the program was supposed to be limited to Catholics!?  What happened to them in Quebec?  Two adjured their faith.  Did they all?

If any of you reading this post has information about those women, please feel free to send me your ideas or suggestions!

P.S. I am also grateful that my beloved cat Quincie is as feisty as ever and continues to help me prove that childfree cat ladies can lead fun and productive lives!