photo de Dom et Papa

Dom (55) et Papa (nearly 90)

I'd been waiting for an email from my French brother Dominique, whom I'd written twice recently without getting any response. He finally wrote today to say he's been busy: he works two jobs (managing his B&B and working at a wood-basket company), and at his second job, he's had to take over for an absent coworker for several months, leaving him with no time to breathe. His wife is also back to working for the government, now with social services and dealing with the homeless, the poor, people requesting asylum, and winter-related emergencies (in the States, she'd vote Democrat for sure). Dom's eldest son is close to getting married, and his youngest daughter (my almost-goddaughter) has apparently come out and has a girlfriend. She's also finishing up coursework on children's animation. Dom's eldest daughter is living with her guy and works as a speech therapist; Dom's youngest son spent four months in London as part of his training to be some sort of sports-event manager. I imagine his English has really improved. Lastly, Dom's dad, my "Papa," began this month with nasty breathing problems; he's got an oxygen setup to use when he needs it. Dom says his dad's still got problems, but he's a bit better. The man's been as healthy as a horse for decades and decades, constantly working on things, but age catches up to us all. 

It was nice to get some kind of an update from Dom after months of silence. At least everyone in his orbit is working and studying. Economically, times are tough for all of us. I'm giving myself another few months, then I'm going to rejoin the workforce as a prole in 2026 if this Substack thing doesn't pan out. If things look grim for me, I may have to postpone international travel. We'll see.