Distant Angels

My angels in Spain: for the Winter holidays, Dad took them to ski in the Sierra Nevadas, Spain.

Alexander, our teenage grandson, left us on short notice...a student position unexpectedly opened up at a school in Madrid.  We miss him but are happy for him, as he really missed his little brother and sister, who are also in Madrid.  You see, his two little siblings were answered prayers.

When Alexander was about seven, he really wanted a little brother.  He was a lonely little Jewish boy at a Catholic school in Paris...and he was a skeptic.  Sister Maria, concerned about his skepticism,  asked him  one day if there were anything that he really longed for.  Without giving it a thought, he answered that he would give anything for a baby brother.  Sister suggested an experiment...they would go to the chapel and pray for a baby brother.  Alexander reluctantly agreed.

Months later, as he was putting away his coat, a file fell off a shelf in the closet.  There on the floor was an ultrasound film of a baby that was very clearly a boy.  "Mama, Mama, Sister Maria was right...prayer works!  We are going to have a baby!

Cecilia took a bit more prayer.  My daughter had been told, based on testing, that she was past her child bearing years.  Then she started having symptoms of ovarian cancer.  She quickly went to her gynecologist to tell him her fears.  After an extensive exam, Misha was ushered into the doctor's office by a solemn looking nurse who helped her into a chair and patted her shoulder tenderly.  "O. K., how long do I have to live?  I have two boys, who will be without a mother, so I have to make plans."

The physician answered, "I have no idea when you will die, but what I do know is that you do not have cancer...instead, you are six months pregnant.  It is a baby girl."

Alexander was not surprised.

I Say Armadillo...He Says Tatou

Though Alexander was born in the United States, he has grown up in Europe and speaks French like a Parisian. He sounds like an American teen when he speaks English, but don't be fooled by his lack of an accent, as he's really a French teen. So the Americanization of Alexander continues. First there were the driving lessons in the fourth largest city in the United States, then learning about your homeland through your grandparents' eyes...

grandparents who are Texans with weird ideas about what being a North American is,

who take Alexander to eat barbecue, then to see kitsch such as a giant armadillo, uhr...tatou, with red glowing eyes.

And to a Beer Can House only a redneck mother could love...above is Alexandre, Alexander to us...with his back up against a wall of more beer bottles and cans than you would like to know exist.

Above is said Beer Can House...burp!

Well, I think the tatou and the Beer Can House are both what we refer to as road kill in Texas...so horrible you can't take your eyes off them. It's on to the shooting range next!

Comme Un Escargot

Alexander's French Snail

Today Tall Husband and I will take a leisurely trip by car to the Texas Hill Country. It's a combined visit to Tall Son and his family; plus a look at real estate, maybe; and perhaps to cover the grand opening of a French design company in Austin. If the latter comes off as promised, you can see it on My Ranchburger. These things cannot be rushed. One could take a lesson from the snail. So, comme un escargot.

Note: The painting above was done by our grandson, Alexander, when he was a seven-year-old attending school in France. Alexander's escargot won top honors in an art competition in Paris. This painting always makes me happy, though it is only a copy, as Alexander would not turn loose of the original.

Happy Birthday Alexander

Happy Birthday, Alexander. We wish we could be with you on your special day. We send a greeting with Tintin and Milou because you were the one who introduced us to your favorite characters when you were a small boy living in Paris. When I see those two, I remember the times we hunted, in Paris and later in Brussels, Tintin books and paraphernalia. I treasure the memories of hours spent reading all your Tintin adventures together (rather, your reading to us in French and sometimes in English...after you heard our French!)

We send our love and wish you the best year ever!

P.S. Are you running with the bulls in Spain again this summer?  Don't let us know!