my French family

I've known the Ducoulombier family since I first went to France in 1986. Years passed; my French "brother" Dominique got married to his lovely wife Véronique, and they had four children-- Joséphine, Augustin, Héloïse, and Timothé. Dominique recently wrote me a very nice email that updated me on his family's situation, and sent along some photos of the family that also include a shot of his parents Pierre and Jeannette, my French Papa and Maman. Maman is a cancer survivor, so Dominique has an excellent idea of what our family is going through as we endure this crisis with Mom.

But far from dwelling on the specter of my mother's cancer in this post, I'd rather share the images Dominique sent me. Hover your cursor over each image for information.

The last time I saw my French family was in late 2007. Domi's parents live near Nantes, on the west side of France, while Domi and his family are near Colmar in the Alsatian region, close to Strasbourg (France) as well as Germany and Switzerland. A great location, except for the fact that it's all the way on the other side of the country.

Domi and his family moved into their new home last year, I think; I gather that they've pretty much settled into it. I saw the house while it was still under construction in December of 2007; it looked very impressive. I hope one day that his family will take a trip to the US and stay with us for as long as they want. As they know, la porte est toujours ouverte. The door is always open.

I see that Héloïse and I have a lot in common: neither of us likes to be serious when people take pictures of us.


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