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How many people can say they’ve had a picnic in a hail storm? We had just driven up another windy road with no guard rails. We were near the top when we found a good spot on the road to pull over and picnic. We had random things to eat…cheese, bread, a pepper and potato chips. We were eating and looking at the view when I felt a drop of rain. Within seconds, there were balls of ice crashing down on us. These balls were big enough to catch and look at on the tip of your finger! Well, that ended our picnic…we quickly packed up and headed down the mountain.
On the southern France map there are a handful of little towns which are marked “the most beautiful villages of France”. We decided to go check a few of these out. The first one was Olette. It was a little residential town set inside a group of mountains with a river running alongside. Unfortunately the hail had turned to rain so we only drove through the town, but it seemed very small and quiet.
The next town was Villefranche de Conflent. This town was completely within an old fortress wall. As we drove, we saw mountain and then this huge old fortress wall…but when you get a peek into the doorway, you see there is an entire village inside. Many european town have an old fortress wall or part of one and then have the newer city on the outside of the wall but Villefranche was completely enclosed-there was no new part, only the old city. Walking through this village was a whole different feel. You could really see how the moat was on the outside and the wall was the protector of the village. We meandered through the little streets acknowledging the fortress architecture.
Our last little town of the day was Eus. One of those hilltop towns, the cobblestone streets wound upward until the top of the hill revealed the church and bell tower. It was raining and we only saw 3 people in the entire town…it was just Giff and I and the wild cats exploring the tiny little residential neighborhood. Where was everybody?
Once back to our timeshare area, we stopped at the grocery (with our own grocery bag) and picked up salad and burger makings. Burgers, salad and yes…vino!
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Published by Giff Kabat
I grew up in Ohio as a kid, so of course I went to college at “THE” Ohio State University. I graduated in 2001 with a major in business finance. A month after graduation, I moved out to California with my college girlfriend (whom I married in 2005)…and started my career in sales (industrial sales for 5 years…then moved into medical laser sales for 4 years).
In 2009 I was 31 years old. I had a great job, a new house, and a beautiful wife. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any better…my wife and I found out we were going to have a baby. Everything was going according to plan…and I couldn’t have scripted a better life for myself.
Then in the same year…everything changed. My wife, Brandey, called me when I was on my way to work and told me over the phone, something I never thought could be possible in a million years. My beautiful 30-year old pregnant wife was just told that she had breast cancer. At that moment, everything stopped all at once. I immediately went to her…and learned of our new plan…which began with her needing surgery immediately…and the rest we would find out later.
The day we returned from the hospital after Brandey’s surgery…my father died. He had been battling an aggressive cancer of his own…and although he was the one person I wanted to speak with about Brandey having cancer…I never told him. My sister, Brooke, had just gotten married a few months ago, and although he was weak, he was able to walk his little girl down the aisle of her wedding. On the night before my sister’s wedding, Brandey and I told him that we were pregnant and about to make him a grandfather. It made no sense to tell him that everything had changed for us…so he died in peace knowing everything was “the way it should be” for his only 2 children.
2010 was the worst year of my life. We had lost our baby…and for 12 months I watched my wife fight cancer with multiple surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation treatments, and drug therapy. It was a difficult year for us…but we made it. When you go through something like this in life, you learn a lot about yourself and the people around you. I was amazed at the strength and courage of my wife…and how many good people there are in this world. I will be forever grateful for the ones who never ceased to amaze me with their kindness during this hard time. Family, friends, and sometimes complete strangers…helped us make it through this. I am, and will always be especially grateful to my mother, who was with my dad at the very end, when I couldn’t be there, and when things were at their worst. She has been so supportive throughout all of this, and without her everything would have been so much harder for me.
It’s 2011 now…and the plan we have for our life this year…is to make it the best year of our lives. Brandey is officially in remission from breast cancer and she has a 95% chance the cancer will never come back. Besides the love that I have for my wife and family, the loves of my life are food, wine, and adventure travel. My wife and I love traveling to new places, seeing natural wonders, and meeting new people from different parts of the world. So for the next 400 days…we’ve decided to travel the world…and celebrate our lives. There are so many things I took for granted in life that I will never take for granted again. My father worked for over 30 years at the same job with the same company…rarely took time off…and died at 64 years old right after his retirement. For me, this trip is a combination of a tribute to him, along with wanting to spend the time of my life with the “love of my life.”
* The only thing I will miss while we are gone is our family and friends (who we hope will meet us somewhere throughout our trip) and especially our 3 little kitties we left with my mom in Ohio to catsit for the next 400 days. I will also miss watching “American Football” over the weekend…but I’ll do my best to check the scores in the middle of the night.
GIFF
View all posts by Giff Kabat
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