Shedding the Security Blanket

Although some people might think that I've embarked on a huge adventure, truth be told it doesn't always feel that way.  Life for the moment is pretty safe and in some ways it feels like not a lot has changed.  I realized recently that although I am living in France, I am not living in French.  With Jean still looking for work, I find that most of my day is spent speaking English with him and the kids. While I know this will change soon, for now I seem to have opted for the security of sticking with familiarity.  Well up until last week...

A while back I heard about a childbirth conference taking place in Brussels.  It was a small intimate 3 day event featuring Michel Odent, a well know physician, researcher, author and proponent of natural childbirth.  I struggled with whether or not to go but eventually decided that this was an opportunity I could not pass up.  So last week I packed up and left Jean and the kids for 4 days.  It meant me driving to Belgium alone which had be a little nervous.  Being alone in a car driving to a place I had never been was a strange feeling.  Though it was pretty darn cool to drive right through Luxembourg (and stopping there for a fill up and snack!).  I got to Brussels close to 9pm and checked into the B & B, anxious to Skype Jean to see how the kids were.  It may sound silly but I felt so adventurous even though compared to my backpacking around South America when I was in my late teens/early 20's, this "adventure" was much more tame.  Perhaps it's now the fact that I have others to whom I am responsible that made this seemingly small trip feel like I was living on the edge (or I am just mature enough now to know the difference!).  Needless to say, falling asleep without in a room alone hundreds of miles from the security of my husband and kids was hard.

Overall, the conference was great.  I met some incredible people and really felt immersed in French for the first time since I arrived.  The last day of the conference  I mustered up the confidence to talk to Michel Odent during one of our breaks.  What a highlight!  Not only did the conversation last for 20 minutes but he thought it was super cool that I was from Cleveland (how often does that happen?) since that was the first place he was ever invited to speak.  Oh, plus he complimented me on my French.  It was the perfect way to have ended this adventure and I left feeling incredibly proud of myself for taking the risk.  That 4 hours driving home flew by.  Sorry Luxembourg, no time to stop this time - I've got my babies waiting for me...