*** ça vaut le detour

Dear friends,

Our trip around the world has taken an unexpected detour through one of the most beautiful corners of the world (now I can honestly say that, having seen several corners), a rugged and unique destination, somewhat off the beaten path, and yet one that I have seen many times before... I am writing to you from Nova Scotia, where, in fact, we have been for the past three weeks now.

About a month ago my mother was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Everyone was in shock, including herself, and we decided on the spot that we wanted to be with her, since we had not seen my family since Christmas 2007. We were in Cusco, about to head up to Machu Pichu when we got the news. But we figured the Inca ruins had been around for hundreds of years, and would probably still be there for the next thousand. (And besides, we have to save something for the next trip!)

I must admit, the transition was a bit abrupt, but having been "on the road" for ten months, we had already seen and experienced many things: the decision was unanimous. We weren't sure how long we would stay, or how things would evolve, and so we just bought a one way ticket to Halifax. Julien promptly moved in with my sister, who has a son the same age, and we've barely seen him since! Well, actually, she only lives five houses away, so we "visit" regularly. We are slowly getting more information and my mum has started treatment.

Now being here in the spring has had its advantages: we've been able to attend several end-of-year concerts, I planted my mum's garden - the radishes have already sprouted! - Julien did a Power Point presentation of our trip in his cousin's class, and we've spent lots of time with my sister's munchkins (Sasha, 2, and Isaac, 1, ever so cute, see photos), especially Evelyne and Noemi, who have become quite the expert babysitters.

After we had been here for two weeks, my mum said. O.K., you've seen me now, you can continue travelling! So, we looked at the options, checked the bank account, Jean-Francois spent hours looking up prices for flights, and finally we decided to "finish our trip", considering this is probably the last time we will travel together as a family. At this point Julien was so thrilled to have a boy his own age to play with, he was starting to come up with schemes so that he could stay in Halifax. So, what did we do? We decided to take Jeremy with us! (psychology 101: happy kids = happy parents) So we are flying to Costa Rica on Wednesday with an extra passenger, a cute blond boy who will no doubt appear in the next set of pictures. A new element for our pyramides! We will go from there to Nicaragua, 7 weeks in all, and then back to Halifax at the end of July.

My mum is incredibly strong, and despite the circumstances, is still concerned about others more than herself. As she says, life goes on, you just have to live one day at a time. I think this whole experience will make the last leg of our trip all the more meaningful.