Sunday May 10, 2026

Our last week in Chalon has been an emotionally draining and physically exhausting adventure. Like the ancient Inca tribes, I have enough faith in an afterlife that rather than finalize a goodbye, say au revoir - until we meet again. We have learned that distance does not negate love of our brothers and sisters - not in Edmonton, Cardston, Pocatello, Rochester, Accra, Daloa, or Nairobi. Chalon sur Saône will be the same.

We had some interesting experiences these last few days. Thursday we made a trip to Lyon to the mission home to store a load of stuff for Avignon. We left cooking pots and bowls for large groups at the office. I was supposed to get a crown on a tooth that afternoon but the dentist had to remeasure for the lab. She was quite surprised that we were leaving the country for two months on Friday. We figured out that next Tuesday is the only possible day for this to happen.

Friday, May 8 is the day the war ended in Europe. We were at the cenotaph for that remembrance. Afterward the mayor presented Bro. Landré with a medal and certificate honoring his service to the community.

We met his sister and a couple of nephews and he received lots of attention. We were supposed to smooze but excused ourselves to meet the branch president and wife for lunch. They took us to their favorite restaurant, a quaint little open air place among the trees next to a stream. It was quite heavenly listening to the birds and such a pleasant three hour meal.

What a lovely last hurrah with them - at least until August when they are coming to visit in Avignon.

Saturday we attended a baptism for 8 year old twins in our branch.  We do not have a font so must travel to Dijon where there is an actual chapel. It is about a seventy minute drive north and is the border of our mission. I lead the singing. Tom accompanied me, also the Soeurs singing a duet, and was on the program to bear his testimony. It was heartfelt and the little girls listened intently. My favorite part was a member from the Dijon Ward playing ‘When Jesus Comes Again’ on her harp.

When all was finished, a woman about my age approached me and said Larry Spackman was her first bishop in Calgary when she joined the church at age 17. She served a mission in France and Belgium in her twenties and was so impressed with the commitment of the members that she wanted to live around them. After her mission, she used to pray that she could help build Zion in France. She ended up marrying a Frenchman who joined the church at 35 and her prayer became a reality. Her husband now has some severe health problems and he is her mission at the moment. What a sweet lady.

From there we headed to see our widow who had just arrived home from the hospital after having surgery on Thursday. We had already said our goodbyes but wanted to cheer her with some flowers and see how she was doing. I said to her ‘The next time we see each other we will be younger and more beautiful.’ She promptly replied ‘And I will have my teeth.’ With that we all laughed, gave hugs and left.

For the next two months we will be blogging occasionally, not weekly. We will be in Florida, Utah, and Alberta, then returning to France on July 15. Au revoir Burgundy. We will miss your stunningly green hills and hedgerows, your historic chateaux, your vineyards, your river, and most of all your people. We will remember your beauty.  

Sunday May 3, 2026

Our last morning in Berlin we ate whole cardamom buns for breakfast and Christy got us on the train to the airport. We had our carry ons checked, compliments of Air France and have learned how we can get on the plane with group one. We tell them our age and they say ‘Welcome  aboard’. It was a late night arriving home  at 11:30 

Tuesday was an unpack, do laundry, get groceries, make granola day. I cleaned the freezer and planned our meals using what we have for our last 2 weeks in Chalon. The next three days we cleaned windows, kitchen cupboards, wallpaper, the oven, and the wooden dining chairs. Also helped the elders start cleaning their cupboards. I threw out three frying pans, chipped dishes, spices from 2021 and many things they have never used.

I have been thinking about 3 different things this week. Who are we going to include in our visit to Utah? What is going to Avignon (packed separately) via the mission home, what are we taking to Florida that stays there and what  activities are we planning  for the family reunions in Canada? We have started packing. Third, how do we best support those who are dealing with heartbreaking challenges? 

Today was one of my hardest goodbyes with the widow I have loved since the first time Tom took her the sacrament. For ten years she has only left  her house in an ambulance. She speaks French and mine is very limited but somehow we connected. She actually stood up so we could hug and weep on on each others shoulders. I will miss our visits and the sacred times we shared spirit to spirit. It reminded me of saying goodbye to the couples in Rochester who stayed to clean up after our going away party. I could not speak, only hug and cry. We had invested 30 years of our lives there and raised our children there and were leaving it behind. How we love and remember those dear friends.  That was 17 years ago and Tom and I have lived several different lifetimes since.