So I’ve met my nephew. What to think. First of all, he is a red-head. As red as you can get. He has blue-green eyes. He is a Pisces.
He is about 5’8. ” He’s actually slim. He wears green a lot. He has a beautiful wife; her name is Catherine. He has three children. The boy is ten. His name is Robert. And there’s Monique, who is seven, and little Suzanne, who is three. All are well behaved, definitely good-looking, and appear very healthy.
Everyone at his house was calm: the dog, the bird, the children.
Stéphane, however, appeared to be unhappy in his line of work, and it seems he still has not found what he wants to do in life. As for Catherine, she works part-time with troubled children or physically challenged ones.
My mom looked forlorn. She pushed the children away and did not seem to want anything to do with them. She hardly spoke to Stéphane or Catherine. She just sat there with her sunglasses on, looking like a film star and, I think, feeling very insignificant. For the first time, I saw her in a different kind of setting where I did not idealize her. For the first time, she looked small — not small in physical stature, small in stature as a person. I did not like her, there. At least I remembered right; she is definitely not the hugging type.
On our way back, I asked if Stéphane had ever found out who his grandfather was. She said he’d asked her and she had answered, “I am not ready just yet. ” She likes playing the prima donna, no doubt about that. She knows she holds all the power, and Stéphane and I are at her mercy. We must wait for her, to know the truth. We must await her pleasure until she feels good and ready to tell us.
On my way back to Ottawa, I kept thinking that there must be a loving way to get her to tell us the truth. A friend in Drummondville, with whom I’d spent one whole wonderful day, mentioned that maybe Mom would be willing to write her story. Put it down on paper and leave it with the notary, and Stéphane and I could get the papers after she passed away. It makes sense to me. I have purchased two really nice journals, one for Stéphane and one for me, and I will mail them to her with a note. After I came back home with the books, I thought I really should get one for Simon as well. So I will get one and, when I have all three, I will mail them, but perhaps not before I go to Machu Picchu.
Aug. 8, 1999 (Computer Journal)