on the road with Louise Smith ~ The Lessons of Life: 365 Days of Gratitude

This is a hard post to write.

Yesterday I learned of the untimely passing of my 'French son' Mickael.

Mickael was a young man full of optimism and adventure. He was the hardest worker with the best attitude that I ever toiled beside.

He came from France to work at our Barrie Treetop Trekking park, and Paul and I opened our doors and let him move in. It was 6 months of great company, great conversations, and a ton of adventures.

The bond was forged and when he moved to western Canada we continued our connection and managed to see each other once a year, and talk and text on a regular basis.

In October he realized his lifelong dream and became a helicopter pilot. My goodness how proud and excited we were for him.

In January I spent 2 weeks in the west seeing my kids, and Mickael and I even managed to climb a mountain together. We talked, as we always did, about life, the challenges, the heart aches, and his plans for overcoming obstacles. He was a young man with a vision for his future, and I loved watching him strategize and make plans.

We were looking forward to seeing him in September when Paul and I head west to see the kids. Mickael was excited to join us on a mountain adventure of some kind.

Sadly that adventure won't be shared with him now. Although I will never know what motivated him to make the decision he made, Mickael took his own life.

In a spiritual context I can easily make sense of his departure. His soul learned it's lessons, passed it's tests and he graduated to the Other Side. It is us in our human-ness, still with lessons to learn, that are left behind, bewildered, sad, and full of questions we may never have answers to.

My heart is broken, yet I am still grateful.

For knowing him.

For loving him.

For incredible family and friends that have wrapped loving arms around me in my sorrow.

For the wisdom that comes from my deep rooted spirituality - for it does help my human-ness understand the why's.

To Mickael - I miss you my 'French son,' I miss you.

Louise

Proud of this achievement