On 3rd May, when we were back in England, we spent some time establishing details of my father's past life which I wrote about here. Having then discovered that I had a step-mother and that she was still alive, I wrote to her, and introduced myself. It was quite a difficult letter to write because I wasn't aware of how much of my father's history she knew and I didn't want to cause her any distress. Well, it must have been a good letter because, bless her, she rang today. She said that she was aware of my existence and that she had even seen a letter that I wrote to my father (even aged 5 I could read and write, and they say that the education system is getting better) and that she would dig it out for me. I'm not too sure why, but afterwards I found it all quite emotional. My long search was coming to an end.
Alison mentioned over dinner the other night that, of late, my ramblings have become a bit bitter and twisted. Look, sweetie, I can't help what I see, and, more to the point, how else am I going to change the world? So there you go, a bit of sentimental old rubbish above to keep you happy.
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William mentioned an interesting thing the other day. Did you know that you can have a secular, 'state baptism' here in France? It's not a baptism in the pouring water on the child's head and absolving it from original sin sense, but an affirmation by the parents that the child will basically uphold the laws of the state and be a good citizen. That's all well and good, but how do they know that?
A quick search found this interesting piece.
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