Saint Martin's Church, Stevoort

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Visiting Dirk and Erna, and lighting a candle for David at their local church.

And then we saw this sugary heart-shaped cookie that reminded us of David’s love for sweet things.

ginger cookie with pearl sugar

Saint Bavo's Church, Ghent

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Second on Ghent church day, we went to Sint-Baafs Kathedraal. There, the van Eyck altarpiece restoration was on display. Beauty was all around.

Saint Nicholas's Church, Ghent

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On a day after Balls & Glory stuffed meatballs with our former Belgian exchange student daughter Janne the night before, and pannekoeken for breakfast, we were ready for a Ghent church double header. First, Sint-Niklaaskerk.

After lighting a candle for David, we sat and listened while the organist rehearsed.

Sacré-Cœur Basilica, Paris

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We started this Sunday in Saint-Germain-des-Prés having breakfast with a South African friend who had also travelled to Paris, and decided we needed to go to the basilica. Yes, on a Sunday. Wanting the full experience, we took the M 12 train to Abbesses and started climbing. It took 285 steps to exit the underground and reach the stairs to take us to Sacré-Cœur. From there, 237 steps up. Once at the basilica, it seemed like a good idea to go to the dome: another 300 (270? . . . what’s the difference at this point?) stair steps to the top. It was a lot of steps. I’m fairly certain this was the precise day that Mike hurt his achilles. Stairs built centuries ago were not designed for the big feet of modern-day travellers.

Only one miracle of Basilique du Sacré-Cœur is that I somehow took these pictures without also including all of the thousands of other people there that day. Churches are meant for everyone, after all.

Église Saint-Sulpice, Paris

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Saint-Sulpice became a regular haunt for us in Paris, where we returned three times on our year away. It felt like a neighbourhood church, even though tours regularly went through it to explain to other tourists how it isn’t the exact place where the activities of a fictional book and movie took place. I could have taken pictures of the dome to St. Mary, the brass line, the Delacroix murals, and other notable features, but on this first visit, I think I was both simply stunned to be in Paris already and it just felt like a normal church-with-candles at that point. We came to spend a lot of time in this neighbourhood, where local events came and went in the plaza out front and irregularities like its mismatched towers made it feel homey and near to us.

First stop: Iceland

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A year after David died, Mike was due for a sabbatical, and the two of us set out for Europe. Mike had some research interests in Spain. We both wanted to visit friends and family in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, and also work on our French and Spanish language skills. The best priced ticket over was on an Icelandic airline, so a stop in Reykjavik was an easy choice.

Here were are at Hallgrimskirkja and lighting the first of many candles while remembering Dave.

Lighting candles for those who have passed is a tradition that both Mike and I saw, and sometimes participated in, growing up. Each of our catholic churches had a candle stand with brightly coloured glass where people (mostly old, in our child’s minds) would drop a dime, then a quarter, and light a candle in memory of someone they cared about. Although neither of us practice this faith, we absorbed the custom throughout our travels. This trip was one part academic break, one part travellers’ journey, and one part healing journey.

Hallgrimskirkja, Reykjavik

Fitting that this candelabra is globe-shaped. We were also entertained by the elderly organist who arrived while we were there to practice hymns outside of service times. We though David would have had a smile to have witnessed it.