Though it was mid-October, the weather was especially warm, so Lei and had I decided to sit outside on the rear balcony. I’d have preferred to be on my front balcony, the one with the great view of Saint-Laurent Boulevard, but it was a passageway for the upstairs neighbors and I knew we’d be interrupted a few times. This conversation was too important for that.
During our quick Thai food dinner, Lei had been quiet, but easily amused by my week’s anecdotes. Yes, what the elderly confided in me often broke my heart, but my job wasn’t all sorrow. They were those who only wanted to tell me about their past or share their thoughts on politics and the latest news they’d read. A favorite subject, I’d noticed through the years, was the topic of how to raise children correctly. Most grandparents s
