That Fateful Day

Ahh, the saga continues. France. It's definately been too long since I have posted since I've had to go back and re-read my last entry. That entry as well as the downward spiral of Pat's band career were to lead into this one. The final straw. And I swear I wrote it but I must have deleted it...So, if in fact I have talked about this before, one of my faithful readers will clue me in. (; ) you know who you are.

Ok, life was moving along quite well for awhile but then the road started to become bumpier and bumpier as the days bled into one another. The pace of our life took on a different pace once the plans seemed to solidify more and more. It was kind of an uncomfortable pace actually...the moods in the band were becoming more and more foul with each meeting and each practice.

Pat was showing the stress as well as the other members, people weren't laughing as much and conversation was practically non-existent. Vibes, such a creepy thing. I stayed out of things for the most part. I would get the scoop here and there from Pat but for the most part, we didn't discuss what was really going on with the group.

That fateful day I sat at the house with the girls while the boys went and had their band meeting down at the brasserie over a couple of beers. I was there with the singers girlfriend for a bit but in my mind now, she vanished into their bedroom at some point. Her and I got along ok but then again, maybe it was just a situation where we got along because we lived under the same roof. Who knows.

All I do know though is that upon the return of the guys, the tension in the air could be cut with a knife. Pat looked beside himself with anger and Magic Fingers blew right past me up to his room. What I remember from that day is Pat pacing around explaining as calmly as he could what had happened at that meeting.

His sentences were short, blunt and not very full of information due to him trying to refrain from taking it out on me. He told me that the singer of the band had quit the project. I hesitantly asked him why and he said because he was bored with it and just didn't feel like doing it anymore.

I must remind you that the tour was all lined up, we were all set to leave in about a month or so, and a lot of time, planning and sacrifices were made by every single person involved in this whole brain scheme the singer had. It was in fact his dream, his idea, and his project. Certainly he was more than welcome to walk away from this but couldn't he have done so while we were all safely based on American soil?

Apparently there was a very heated argument that took place during this meeting. Of course that is to be expected because more than half of the band had picked up their lives, sold their belongings and were set to live in France for at least a year. This was a done deal, this was it, this was going to make them a name. And they were already on their way even before the tour with all the radio interviews and the gigs they had done. These guys had a following, they had posters, they had promoters and moles everywhere.

How could he just up and do this? How could he just ignore the fact that he was not only quitting a project that thousands of dollars was invested in, hundreds of hours of rehearsal was put in, and just leave virtually every last person in such a pickle? Although I shouldn't have been surprised by this guys 'boredom' I sat in silence and tears for so many reasons.

I had grown to really love the life we had there, I had grown very fond of the freedom and the independence that Pat and I had as a couple, I enjoyed watching my girls experience new things and learning the language, I grew attached to our new friends, and mostly I enjoyed not having to deal with our families. (I don't write that because of what has been going on with my family, but because the involvement and interference that was taking place when we were in the states and the wrench that was throwing into our marriage. However, with the things that have transpired in recent years, I would just love to not be here in the states! LOL)

Anyway, there is one very key thing that pained both Pat and myself a great deal. Even to this day. We had been in France for about 2 months when the bomb dropped. Not once had we had the opportunity to visit Paris nor many other places. One of the main reasons that Pat and I decided to take this huge step with our kids was because it was an opportunity to see places that I could only dream about. We were going to travel all around Europe and I wanted to see Switzerland. I have always wanted to go there. And for our kids to have even miniscule memories of this would have meant the world to us. To this day, they have memories of France so I know that their little minds would have absorbed some.

Two months we had been there and not once had the mention of going to Paris been brought up. Ah, we figured we would get there eventually, no big deal. We had all the time in the world. Talk about feeling like we were punched in the gut.

For days Pat and I struggled to make sense of everything. Him and I bickered a lot because I did not want to come home. He didn't either but him being the more sensible of the two of us knew that that was our only choice. Talk about an emotional time.

A lot of our things were sold at home not to mention our house was for sale, we didn't have enough money to fly all four of us home, we didn't have work visas nor did we latch on to the language well enough to even find jobs. It was like everything was moving around us but we weren't able to move with it. Things were just not good.

The guys needed to play one more gig before the end. It was their final gig before the tour was supposed to begin. The bass player had already come back to the states, if memory serves correctly, he had left BEFORE that fateful band meeting to play with another band in L.A. Smart guy, he must have had good instincts. But as I said, the aura of Bluex was not exactly that of angels singing.

By this time we had bit the bullet and called up the folks to ask them to help fly us home...it was the hardest phone call to make too. I shed many tears, we had at some point during this hiatus from all of the stress of our life before, found eachother again and a deeper love and respect grew. Letting go of a place such as this that helped more than harmed our life together was something that is very hard to explain.

Anyway, for their final gig, they had to hire a Frenchman to fill in for the bass player. He actually did a great job. It was the only gig that I brought the girls too, poor things, the music was so loud but they danced and clapped and loved every minute of it.

As luck would have it, the click track on the computer messed up that night and the guys had to wing it, they had to play of their own means. And it was horrible to say it gently. They really did poorly that night but at the end of that gig, they got the best crowd response they received throughout the life of Bluex. I have photos of them signing autographs and people were just crowding around them as if they were the biggest stars they'd ever seen.

They made some decent coin that night. Actually, Pat did. He had the foresight to ask that he be paid as a side player which meant that he would receive a little more than the others. We needed the money in order to get home and start over and since the band wasn't officially a band anymore, well, he was just a hired hand.

Later in the month, we all found out the the singer had picked up with a new band. His new project. Talk about a slap in the face. What a piece of work this guy was. Oh, and he did live with us for at least another 3 weeks after the split. I don't remember too much of that experience except for the party that we had for our friends...what I remember most though is his smug smile that he carried around when he would be around us almost as if he was satisfied...

I will speak of the party in my next post of France. This did get a little long, guess I'm making up for lost time...