A French Country Weekend

       Yesterday we went to the funeral of one of My-Reason-For-Living-In-France's closest childhood friends, a woman I liked very much for her joie de vivre and constant good humor.

        The mass was in the chapel of the Eglise Saint-Roch in Paris. The late Baroque church is immense, but all the way to the back there is a beautiful, intimate space with angels floating on what looks like blue clouds of thick frangipane watching over the alter and the worshippers. 

        Apart from the strength and affection friends and family bring to those who have lost a loved one, which always brings me to tears, I wanted to tell you two remarks the priest made that I thought might touch you as much as they did me.

The chapel inside the Eglise Saint-Roch in Paris.

        In his sermon he told us to say "thank you" more often, every day, to everyone, particularly to those we love who, he said, are often forgotten or taken for granted. He reminded us the importance of simple appreciation, expressed with mindfulness. "Don't ever regret, when it's too late, that you didn't say thank you for all of your blessings," he said.

      Then, toward the end of the Mass, he told us to remember that "absence is not a void." Yes.