When we returned to France last June for vacation, we of course visited friends and family. Through this article, I wanted to share a few words about a visit we made to my paternal grandmother in a retirement home in Cannes.

In the past, I had not had a particularly close relationship with her. Sometimes that is simply how family life works: the bond is different from one person to another, just as it is with friends.

So it was a surprise for me to find a grandmother who was genuinely happy to see us. We spent a wonderful afternoon together talking about our life in the United States and about simple everyday things.

That day, I discovered a warm and affectionate side of her that I had not always felt before. Discovering this hidden side of my grandmother so late in life moved me deeply and unsettled me a little, as if I had somehow missed something important.

At the end of the day, we left with tears in our eyes after embracing each other warmly. For the first time, I felt a true closeness and attachment with my paternal grandmother, emotions that had come more naturally to me with my maternal grandmother.

On the way back, my husband and I were very thoughtful. We realized how much things can sometimes escape us and how easy it is to miss certain moments in life.

One thing was certain: my grandmother had asked us to send her a postcard once we were back in Florida, and we were not going to miss that opportunity.

We returned from France at the end of June and left again a few days later on a road trip through North Florida. Of course, we sent the promised postcard as soon as we got back, something I had never done before with this grandmother since moving to the United States.

To my great sadness, my grandmother never saw that postcard. Fate decided otherwise. Her health deteriorated very quickly and, after being hospitalized, she sadly passed away.

I am sharing this very personal event today because, just as distance affects relationships with family and friends when you live abroad, grief also becomes part of expatriate life. Living far away means sometimes missing moments, arriving too late, or not being able to accompany loved ones in the way you would wish.

I dedicate this article to Poussy, to my grandparents, and to my parents.

Living abroad changes your relationship with time, distance, and family ties. That is one of the reasons this postcard became much more than a simple travel card for me.

It became the symbol of a promise kept too late, of an emotion rediscovered, and of the fragile nature of the moments we still have with the people we love.