{"id":116,"date":"2024-10-21T09:34:11","date_gmt":"2024-10-21T09:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.d-c-k.com\/mme-el\/?p=116"},"modified":"2024-10-21T09:34:11","modified_gmt":"2024-10-21T09:34:11","slug":"es-atal-la-bido-such-is-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.d-c-k.com\/mme-el\/es-atal-la-bido-such-is-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Es atal la bido \u2013 Such is life\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A<\/span>nd so we went through ups and downs from one day <\/span>to the next, not knowing where we\u2019ll finish, \u2018tant pis\u2019, <\/span>never mind, \u2018es atal la bido\u2019 \u2013 such is life. <\/span>Our acquaintance lasted for a good ten years. Then one <\/span>day in early March she decided to leave once and for all. <\/span>She was ninety and \u2018coquine\u2019, mischievous to the end. I tell <\/span>her that it\u2019ll be my birthday tomorrow and ask her how old <\/span>I\u2019ll be.\u00a0 \u2018Eighty!\u2019she replies with a twinkle. At the end of my <\/span>visit I mention that birthday again. She asks \u2018what age? I say <\/span>\u2018seventy-five\u2019 and ask back about hers: \u2018seventy-four\u2026\u2019 she <\/span>says drily. I tell her about Lyn and Charlie\u2019s impending visit.\u00a0<\/span>
She knows them well and is looking pleased at the news. Then <\/span>I ask a silly question and get what it deserves: \u2018would you like <\/span>to see them?\u2019. With feigned seriousness she says \u2018No!\u2019. On her <\/span>sickbed she made me laugh more than once. Considering that <\/span>according to the medics she should have left a while ago\u2026
\n<\/span>Nobody can change their ways. Mme El\u2019s daughter-in-law <\/span>provides excellent practical care to the end and every time <\/span>she turns her back Mme El to the end, defiantly expresses her <\/span>feelings in her very own way, the same throughout her life, <\/span>L\u00e9onine told me, a certain gesture known only too well by the <\/span>initiated, one hand slapping the back of the other meaning <\/span>\u2018clear off!\u2019, for Mme El cannot be bought by careful spoon- <\/span>feeding and other services. When she did it to the nurses, they <\/span>asked L\u00e9onine what it meant. She certainly made it clear to <\/span>them, relishing that someone else had been on the receiving <\/span>end. This was a day or two before Mme El died.<\/span><\/p>\n

We went to see Gerry and L\u00e9onine a few days after the <\/span>funeral. Once more we sat round the kitchen table where <\/span>Mme El used to hold court. All were unanimous that she was <\/span>a \u2018welcoming, warm-hearted, generous\u2019 woman who had <\/span>worked hard all her life and was brave to the last. A woman <\/span>popular in the village judging by the sea of flowers and the <\/span>large crowd of mourners on the day.<\/span>
Life has changed for sure, the neighbourhood not the same <\/span>any more. But \u2018change is necessary\u2019, I read on my kitchen <\/span>calendar, as necessary as the \u2018renewal of the leaves in spring\u2019, <\/span>according to Vincent van Gogh10<\/a><\/sup>Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890), a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures of Western art. He made frequently quoted statement about life in general. A poet and a writer.<\/span><\/span>
Life goes on. I for one keep fighting the magpies who are <\/span>building a nest in full view of the kitchen window, out of reach <\/span>at the very top of a tall pine-tree. Fighting windmills maybe, <\/span>but fighting. I have noticed that one of the birds is more timid <\/span>than the other and flies off quite readily when I make a noise. <\/span>The other won\u2019t budge, try as I might, but in the long run finds <\/span>life boring without its mate and flies off in turn. The magpies <\/span>are only doing as nature tells them. Pity they\u2019re a menace to <\/span>all the other birds\u2026<\/span>
Mme El in her final days, virtually immobilized in bed, and <\/span>Gerrer looking in at the door, asking encouragingly \u2018\u00e7a va?\u2019 <\/span>and she managing a smile and a nod. <\/span>She resolutely and at all times, if necessary at her personal <\/span>expense, defended her son\u2019s interest. The day before she was <\/span>admitted to hospital, which soon discharged her as a terminal <\/span>case, I talked to her about my book and that I had given one <\/span>to Mr Blethen, a neighbour and former teacher of English. She <\/span>asked in her straightforward way \u2018does Gerrer have one?\u2019 I <\/span>said \u2018no\u2019, the idea hadn\u2019t come to me, and she \u2018he must have <\/span>one!\u2019. It so happened that we were alone with Gerrer. I quickly <\/span>went to fetch a specimen for him, showed it to Mme El and <\/span>then handed it to her son. He was surprised and pleased and <\/span>reckons he can just about \u2018read\u2019 English, but it would take him <\/span>\u2018three years\u2019. Next day I asked L\u00e9onine, had she seen my book. <\/span>She nodded giving a certain smile, but no, she wouldn\u2019t be <\/span>able to read it, not knowing enough English, that was all that <\/span>was said.<\/span><\/p>\n