Wednesday, June 18, 2014

one year later !

A few days more than a year ago, the blog and the voyage of Papy Jovial ended apparently there in Cherbourg where we entered at the end of what turned out to be the worst Ocean crossing that I had ever done.This was because the day after we had arrived in Cherbourg, I suffered a stroke and had to be taken to the hospital . After the hospital I was sent to a rehab clinic in Caen (my son lives 10 miles from downtown Caen) I was released from the clinic in the first days of August and it was obvious that it would take time before I could resume sailing. So Karen and I moved in a charming little house in a small village  about 20 miles from Caen. Karen worked very hard to make it a home where we could be happy especially wiyh the addition of an eight weeks old puppy female pyrenean shepherd that we named Teefee (little girl in Haitian creole) After the summer, during which we joined gatherings of the brothers of the coast from Normandie, Karen and I toured the castles of the River Loire. We also went to Paris for the boat show and spent a week-end on a River boat on the River Seine. Karen was experiencing more and more pain in her legs and could hardly walk. So by mid december, she flew back home to PA to have surgery on both legs. Then on January 11th, on my way back from dunkirk and a gathering of the brothers there, I suffered another stroke and had to be hospitalized for a few days and have surgery to clear a carotid. At that point, my doctor insisted that I moved back to Caen to be close to the various health providers that I have to visit regularly to cut down on the driving. I had to surrender the little house and rent a fully furnished apartment in Caen moving in in February. That was a serious downturn in my life. By April 23rd, disaster struck. Karen had a stroke in the US and passed away in a few hours. I was obviously devastated, my life coming to a stop with next to nothing to look forward to. In the mean time Papy Jovial got sailed to Saint Malo by Jean Paul in a boat yard there to be fixed and be ready to sail whenever I will be ready. We are now in the second half of June and Papy Jovial could be back in the water by the end of the month. At this point there are too many unknown regarding the future, and it would be futile to make plans  except that I know that the goal has to be to sail back to Norfolk and try and rebuild my life.