This week was about seeing friends, trying to keep myself busy while Matthew is away teaching, and attending my visa interview appointment.

While still in Brunswick, I had the pleasure of having one of my oldest friends and her three children come visit the condominium and have dinner with James and Lily. We got pizzas for dinner and, as if no time had passed since we last saw each other, we all got along, laughed and reconnected. The kids have known each other since they came into existence. Their ages range from 18 to 22. In the group their are two girls, and three boys (2 James in fact!) I have known their mom since 7th grade and we have maintained the kind of friendship that feels more like family. It is so fun to see how are offspring have grown to be such wonderfully unique people. It can’t help but give me a hope that our world has a chance in spite of itself.

On Wednesday I drove to Boston with Sophie. I realized halfway there that I had lent James my apartment keys and not recollected them. This would have been a minor inconvenience except that Matthew had his keys with him in California and James wasn’t home. I decided to call the property manager and was able to get another set of keys made in their office in Allston while Sophie barked her head off in the lobby. When we successfully entered the apartment I was reminded what city living can feel like in the summer. The windows were cracked and the air conditioner was off so to avoid expiration, Sophie and I drank copious amounts of water and one of us stripped down to underwear. We practiced this routine several times during our few days in Boston, as we splayed out on the wood floor and thought “cool” thoughts. Eventually the air conditioner made a small impact and we were able to move from the floor. On Wednesday evening I had dinner with an old friend in the city and was a reminded how friends are sometimes the family God didn’t give us.

Thursday was another hot day followed by another dinner date with another one of my favorite people. My high school history teacher has become a good friend over the years and we had a wonderful dinner laughing and crying over life’s challenges and changes. He is an accomplished carpenter and suggested he might be willing to come to France and help me put my bathroom in this October. The notion of having him there is so comforting. I’m hoping it will work out that we can make it happen!