When I was in high school, my parents agreed to host exchange students from other countries for three years in a row. Laure came from France to live with us for 11 months - spending her senior year in high school. I was only in my junior year and really looked up to her. I thought she was so brave to leave her home, to attend school in a foreign language, and to live with strangers. She was lively and fun and she became like a sister to me.
After she left, we wrote letters and my mother and I visited her family in France for a week when I was 19. Her whole family was very warm and welcoming. Laure and I continued to write letters after that but eventually lost touch. I tried to find her a few times, but wasn’t successful until the age of Facebook. Though her last name had changed when she married, her brother’s had not and eventually we reconnected despite her not being on Facebook.
Since then, we’ve had a few conversations but my French skills are weak. This week I finally got to see her again and meet her family. She and her family went above and beyond to make us feel welcome in their lovely home. Since my French is rudimentary at best, and Dermot knows less, they usually switched to English for our benefit. I got to meet her husband, some of her family and friends and see pictures of the life she had lived since I had seen her last. It's hard to describe, so I’ll just say that it was like they were a long-lost part of my family. Dermot and I got to attend a dinner party she had with friends, had many meals with her family, and they even got us tickets to a concert.
This week was more about a reunion than sightseeing, but here are some pictures of Lyon, Laure, and her wonderful family:
So cool that you were able to reconnect!
ReplyDeleteYes! I've lost touch with too many wonderful people!
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