A year has passed since my last blog post.
We were at the height of the pandemic, losing thousands of people across the world.
Holiday celebrations, including Thanksgiving here in the United States, were
canceled or limited to very small gatherings.
By then most of us understood that we were in for the long haul.
I don’t know for you, but besides my kids that I missed beyond words, I yearned for
things I had always taken for granted.
Popping in a coffee shop without thinking twice about bumping into too many
people, standing in line and engaging in those random American conversations I
adore, trying clothes on in crowded changing rooms and laughing with women I had
never seen before and would likely never see again, brunching at the local diner and
elbowing other hungry people.
That stuff I missed. A lot.
And yet among so much missing and so much unknown, one way or another, all of
us learned to cope and adjust, and I want to believe to enjoy with much more
appreciation those things we took for granted.
Sharing coffee with a friend at an outdoor café terrace is a treat.
Going to the weekly farmers’ market becomes an event.
And invitations to school visits and book festivals make me feel grateful.
Once again I will participate to the Amelia Book Festival and the Authors in Schools
in February 2022.
A French high school teacher has invited me to meet with her students.
After two years I will see authors I know and I will meet new ones too.
People are still there.
And I hope that despite my long absence you are still there, too.
Evelyne Holingue 