No jokes: I laughed, I cried… As much by the power, sometimes, of your anecdotes as by the trust you show me by confiding in me all these slices of life. THANKS. There will be volume 2 of your 2023 flashes tomorrow.
And save your leftover turkey, I’ll be coming as promised with a chicken stock column shortly.
ANNIE PRESSEAULT: My mother. She gardened, did sewing. And genealogy: his retirement passion. In the spring, she submitted her research on the pioneer families of the village where she was born. Shortly after, my mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, she left that summer. A little piece of history exists thanks to her, in a small village in Lac-Saint-Jean called Sainte-Hedwidge. Her name was Lyne Saint-Pierre.
MARIE-NOELLE TOUCHETTE: I am the mother of two teenagers, I work from home. Mid-forties, but I’m an old couple with my boyfriend. A year ago, we adopted a beautiful Weimaraner, found in a field. I knew I would go gaga, that I would want to buy him a pink bowl. But I had underestimated the benefits of pet therapy on my stress and on the climate in the household. After dinner, I take 20, 30 minutes and sit on the chaise longue of my couch: this is the signal Luna is waiting to come join me. She falls asleep on my legs, it’s my Zen moment.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MARIE-NOELLE TOUCHETTE
Luna
RICHARD MOUSSEAU: My year? It was Mélodie, our eldest, who overcame her stress and gave a superb performance at a concert. It was Angélie, our youngest, who left her cell phone aside to choose a sport, karate (she passed her yellow belt with flying colors). It was a difficult year for Chantal, my wife, but we helped her get through it as a family. The ups and downs, we experience it as a family.
LOUISE GAUDREAU: I have noticed very often this year that the indicators on cars have disappeared. As they get bigger and more expensive, maybe they are just optional!
VINCENT PICARD: My 2023 flash is the birth of my first child, in the same hospital where my grandmother received medical assistance in dying, a few months ago. It shows that life is a spinning wheel, and that between the two, we must celebrate life.
ÉMILIE DOYON-PELOQUIN: I did my first half marathon. I had the best supporters to encourage me.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY ÉMILIE DOYON-PELOQUIN
Supporters of Émilie Doyon-Peloquin
DANIELLE B.: Seeing my son perform as the opening act for a better-known band. See the light in his eyes at that moment. I tell myself that I haven’t missed everything…
PATRICK LEMAY: I am a trainer for forest seedling qualification teams, for reforestation. I was in the middle of explaining how to define a fork on a two-year-old plant, which is not always easy. The whole group looked at me doubtfully. That’s when my watch said: “I’m not sure I understand…” There was a lot of laughter in the group. A fine example of artificial innocence, in the truest sense of the word…
DOMINIC BRÛLÉ: I couldn’t find Maggie, my cat anymore. By geolocating her, I saw that she was at the SPCA. That evening, I went to the SPCA: a neighbor had hit Maggie, then went to drop her off at the SPCA, not knowing what to do. Maggie is dead, I got her bloody necklace. Three weeks later, I am outside, in front of my house. A woman stops: she was the one who hit Maggie. She explained to me the accident, how she put Maggie in a box with white tissue paper, to avoid leaving her in the middle of the street. I held her in my arms, we cried together.
FRANCINE ROY: My 6 year old grandson wanted to help me cook his bacon which he loves. Realizing that I no longer had any parchment paper to place in the bottom of my grill pan, I said to her: Grandma has run out of paper. His response: Grandma, I’m going to go get you some toilet paper.
We love them, these little ones!
GILLES PAQUIN: For the tears, we had to go fishing with friends on June 9 in the Obatogamau Outfitter. On the 4th, we learned that the site was closed: forest fires. On the 7th, we found a trailer in Gaspésie spared by the fires. New destination, laughter to tears: we had a very good fishing trip.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY GILLES PAQUIN
Gilles Paquin and his fishing partners
DANIELE RAYMOND: My son had been waiting for a kidney for a long time, he had been on dialysis for two years. He had a kidney this year. It’s amazing what that did for him. A second life, a second chance. There are no words to describe my gratitude to this stranger who donated her organs.
FRANÇOIS CYR: I no longer believed it, but I received my greatest gift of life in 2023: love. It was June 26, at the café. Six months later, our story continues like a crescendo without a false note. It was no coincidence: after six years of support in the health system, destiny offered me a nurse as the love of my life. I found my childish heart.
JACINTHE MAJEAU: My son, 7 years old, is old enough to lose his palettes. Except that his palettes don’t want to leave his mouth. He is currently losing his second palette, for… 2 weeks. Even the elves left an apple for the tooth to fall out, nothing to do. It’s really banal, I know, but for two weeks (and for two weeks for the other tooth), I look at him and I can’t help but smile when I see his little tooth coming out of his mouth, towards the exterior, as if she was tired of being a tooth, that she was making fun of her mouth and playing an absurd joke on us… and I am an excellent audience! The little nothing in life that makes it beautiful…
CLAUDE MIRON: A magical moment hunting, with my son, in search of a moose, in the Monts-Valin to the north of Saguenay, and which reminded me of the days spent with my own father, in nature.
RÉMI ROBERT: My friend Marie-Andrée: 45 years old, admirable woman, mother of two teenagers. Mid-June: she adopts three Inuit children with the thousand adventures that this entails. Mid-August: she learns that she has this terrible thing, cancer. She’s been fighting like a champion ever since. The prognosis is good. It’s a big sunshine in my year to see her go. I love him as a friend.
DIANE LIBERIO: Extreme joy: I found your recipe for broth for the turkey carcass and it was a revelation! THANK YOU!
Response from the columnist: Please send your little note to Mr. Cardinal, my boss, while suggesting that he make me a soup columnist.
HUBERT SALVAIL: My postcard for 2023 is a happy event that made me cry with joy: having started my research laboratory at the University of Central Florida, after my six years of biochemistry in Sherbrooke and my ten years at Yale. Leading an academic research team has been my goal since high school. I love my job which allows me to train the scientists of tomorrow.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY HUBERT SALVAIL
Hubert Salvail
Each day is different and brings its share of new discoveries and joy in seeing my students progress and marvel at the elegance and complexity of bacterial physiology. My laboratory is interested in the regulation of the stress response and virulence of the gastrointestinal pathogen Salmonella enterica. My work will allow us to better understand how Salmonella as well as other bacterial pathogens of clinical importance are resistant to antibiotics and manage to infect humans.
CAROLINE: Here is a photo of my 15 year old teenager (14 at the time of the photo) who is going to Italy with his class, without parents, for a 10 day trip. Nothing exceptional, you might say, but my son is ADHD, he was flying for the first time. I had the stress of him forgetting his medication, losing his passport and his money or his phone.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY CAROLINE
“ […] my son is ADHD, he was flying for the first time,” writes our reader.
The mother had to learn to manage herself!
This trip made me laugh at all the anecdotes he experienced with his gang of friends. This trip made me cry to see him leave alone like the Great Man he has become, made me smile looking, in the evening, at all the photos sent by Messenger and which made me realize that he was tripping like a mad person.
ISABELLE DROUIN: On January 13, I was hit by an SUV. I found myself face down in the middle of the street, unable to get up. Passersby quickly contacted emergency services. There was even a man who put his coat on me because I was cold. I noticed how well the machine was run. Firefighters, police, ambulance, I was examined then finally taken to Santa Cabrini. I was quickly taken care of. Finally, dislocation of the right arm and fracture of the head of the humerus. Subsequently, complaint to the SAAQ, work stoppage, physiotherapy treatments. Return to teleworking one month after the accident part-time. Return to full time in April. There are many criticisms of the health system, but I felt privileged to live in a society where care is assured and compensation is accessible.
FRANCE CADIEUX-ROY: This year, at the age of 65, at the same time as receiving my first old age security check… I got my first tattoo in life. A very small tree, with very small roots, but very present all the same. It reminds me that I exist in a world that can be beautiful, with humans who can be good.
I have edited some comments for clarity and brevity. Tomorrow, the rest of your slices of life.