What am I reading?

A few weeks ago, I planned on reading the series of “Narnia”. However, since then, I found myself reading a French novel, Tout le bleu du ciel, written by Mélissa Da Costa. A lengthy story of 850 pages about a twenty-six year old man diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer disease.

Our main protagonist, Émile, decides to leave the medical support being offered and the compassionate care of his family and his best friend to go off on a grand voyage. He places an add in a local newspaper seeking a person to join him on this trip. Many days later, he receives a response from a young woman. We meet Joanne. She has her own story too.

Together they travel in their mini VW bus to reach the Pyrenees mountain range. With the use of their guidebook, these two strangers explore small villages and historical footprints they find. Slowly as they learn more about each other, their friendship grows.

Although, I am only a quarter of my way through this story, on many occasions I felt forced to stop and take stock of my life and choices. Imagine learning you have two years to live and that within those twenty-four months your life quality and memory will deteriorate. What would you do?

So far, this poignant story has held moments of humanity and of soul-searching. It reminds us of the importance to answer this question and to not lose sight of that what if.