something for the soul.......
If your child of a certain age goes to Montembeouf College as does my lovely Sam, you may have had some homework to do in January too.
I was pinned down like Gulliver and forced to read Saint-Exupery's classic 'The Little Prince' along with Sam, to balance adult verses child view- thank heavens we had a copy in English (otherwise things could have been very tricky !) and I must admit I wasn't too enamoured with the thought, and then to top it all we had questions to answer - takes me back to college A levels - but actually, I learnt a thing or two and really enjoyed it after all. At this precise time I was also duelling with new and wonderful things in my life which bought to mind very strongly someone I cared deeply about and whom I lost, over four years ago now, but who remains very much in my heart and in my memories, then too a close friend who I also love dearly revealed that she and her family are moving back to England in a few months too, how to cope with all this ?
Saint-Exupery gives us a character in his strange and lovely tale who is at once purely innocent and deeply wise and cannot fathom the way that adults think and what concerns them day to day. He's right I think, we concern ourselves with so much that doesn't matter when ' What is essential is invisible to the eye.' 'It is only with ones heart that one can see clearly.'
I guess what this story gave me is confirmation of my belief that life carries on and that just because it carries on somewhere else doesn't mean that we can't benefit from its wonderful memories or continue to love in fact.You are much missed M. - ' When you look up at the stars at night, since I shall be living on one of them and laughing on one of them, for you it will be as if all the stars are laughing.'
'And when you are comforted, you will be happy to have known me. You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me.'
The Little Prince also cared deeply about his planet, his rose and the baobabs and it got me to thinking that actually our lives are much like a garden, they need work, they need care and food and sometimes they need pruning, an essential but brutal activity. Sometimes to allow growth, plants must be removed and replanted elsewhere perhaps, in a better place, where they can thrive.
