It hit me today!

Just yesterday I was eluding myself into thinking that we might get away without difficult goodbye scenes or teary faces. This end-of-school-year, it seems none of the kids' best friends are leaving. Not that some of them have ALREADY left, but this June we might just hang on to those whom will stay in Paris... at least until next year.

Then, today I joined the last tour organised for the schools' parents by lovely Mona and it hit me. This year it was me standing to lose her safety net. It is not one special friend in particular, it is the community of mums that arrived the same year I did. We mixed and mingled over the years, in the beginning mainly because we needed to accompany our kids to their playdates. A quick chat in the school courtyard, a coffee on the go or a little phone call to double-check our child was being picked up. The conversations began to get longer, become more personal and once in a while we'd rant and let our frustration be heard knowing we were understood.

Coffees became lunches, lunches became dinners. We were 18 very loud ladies at our last dinner in a trendy restaurant on the Seine river enjoying each others company and just being ourselves!

When did we all start feeling so comfortable in each others presence? When did we stop noticing the language barrier, the culture gap or religious diversity? When did we start becoming friends? It happened without us noticing... until the time came to say good-bye.

So here I am silently shedding tears over a group of fantastic ladies (they know who they are) that will be leaving me behind.

As one of my friends so nicely said today: "These past four years have been a gift!" Merci to each and every one of you!