July 30, 2011

Last fall, the Boudeaus, Melinda & I talked about the possibility of Romain coming with us to spend several weeks in Seattle when we returned. Not only would he get to practice his English, we’d see about setting it up so he could see some Seattle area businesses in operation. You see, Romain is studying economics in school. He is at a high level, what is called “Prépa” in France. Hooking him up with people we know who work at Microsoft, Amazon, and Boeing would provide him with some incredible learning opportunities. Most significant of these, my brother Scott, a financial advisor/stockbroker of some repute, early on greed to allow Romain to shadow him for several mornings.

As our departure date from France grew nearer, Melinda and I started to realize that having Romain with us would provide our family something that’s a little hard to explain. His presence would literally bring back a human piece of France in our home and keep Melinda, Chloe, Ella & me from mindlessly falling back into our Seattle routines. With him, we’d speak more French, be able to show off our Seattle lives, and otherwise have a Nantes connection. He would be tangible evidence that our year in France was not a dream.

His presence has so far been even more significant that we first imagined.

I’m late posting tonight because we just got back from a late dinner at my brother’s house. That’s Romain with Scott and Sally, Scott’s partner. Also in the picture, two bottles of wine, thank you gifts from the Boudeaus to Scott. Not pictured, Romain’s new Seattle Mariners t-shirt that he picked up at today’s game.