Encaban\u00e9e dans ma grande maison aux six divans, j\u2019ai enfin eu le temps de r\u00e9fl\u00e9chir. Ces trente derni\u00e8res ann\u00e9es, par monts et par vaux, j\u2019ai sillonn\u00e9 notre grand pays afin d\u2019y planter un peu partout de belles grandes tables \u00e0 d\u00e9jeuner. Et j\u2019ai eu dr\u00f4lement besoin d\u2019un repos quasi obligatoire pour enfin me calmer les hormones. La pand\u00e9mie et son s\u00e9v\u00e8re confinement me l\u2019ont procur\u00e9.<\/p>\n
Au d\u00e9but, comme tout le monde, j\u2019ai rag\u00e9 contre cette abominable calamit\u00e9 dont personne n\u2019avait pr\u00e9dit l\u2019arriv\u00e9e. J\u2019ai pleur\u00e9 la mort h\u00e2tive de beaucoup trop de personnes \u00e2g\u00e9es. Et, masqu\u00e9e jusqu\u2019aux oreilles, j\u2019ai eu peur pour ma propre vie, celle de mes enfants et de mes petits-enfants. J\u2019ai pri\u00e9 pour nos proches, nos franchis\u00e9s, nos employ\u00e9s, nos clients et la plan\u00e8te enti\u00e8re. Chaque matin, j\u2019ai entrepris de marcher quelque deux kilom\u00e8tres dans la nature pour apaiser mon esprit et me coller \u00e0 l\u2019ind\u00e9fectible sagesse des arbres.<\/p>\n
Pendant ce confinement obligatoire, j\u2019ai eu tout le temps au monde pour r\u00e9fl\u00e9chir \u00e0 ma vie, \u00e0 mes b\u00eatises, \u00e0 mes exc\u00e8s et \u00e0 mon ent\u00eatement \u00e0 r\u00e9ussir \u00e0 tout prix. Comme si mon existence en d\u00e9pendait; comme si le nombre d\u2019\u00e9tablissements allait \u00eatre l\u2019unique bar\u00e8me pour me d\u00e9finir. Et le m\u00e9chant virus est arriv\u00e9, bousculant nos habitudes, nos croyances et ma ferme conviction de vivre jusqu\u2019\u00e0 cent ans. Je le d\u00e9sire encore, mais avec un peu plus de d\u00e9tachement, comme il me plairait qu\u2019il fasse soleil demain.<\/p>\n
C\u2019est un fait, je ne suis plus \u00e0 la barre de quoi que ce soit d\u2019important. Et je survis, heureuse d\u2019\u00eatre encore de ce monde et confiante dans l\u2019avenir. Voulant garder contact avec nos pr\u00e9cieux clients, d\u00e8s le d\u00e9but de la pand\u00e9mie, j\u2019ai entrepris de leur \u00e9crire une lettre chaque semaine et j\u2019en suis \u00e0 la cent-cinquanti\u00e8me, presque. J\u2019ai retrouv\u00e9 ma passion de jadis! L\u2019\u00e9criture, je vous l\u2019avoue, a \u00e9t\u00e9 ma meilleure th\u00e9rapie. Elle a vid\u00e9 ma t\u00eate d\u2019un lourd pass\u00e9. Mes plus beaux et mes pires souvenirs se sont \u00e9gar\u00e9s dans un fouillis de paragraphes, la plupart aujourd\u2019hui grug\u00e9s par l\u2019oubli.<\/p>\n
Jadis, j\u2019\u00e9tais tellement contrari\u00e9e de ne jamais pouvoir en faire autant que j\u2019aurais voulu. Quelques fois, je me souviens, l\u2019espoir me coupait les pattes, mais je restais debout, m\u2019accrochant \u00e0 l\u2019aile d\u2019une corneille ou, mieux encore, \u00e0 la patte d\u2019un loup. Aujourd\u2019hui, je me sens beaucoup plus forte. J\u2019ai perdu des plumes, mais j\u2019ai gagn\u00e9 la bataille. Les \u00e9preuves ont \u00e9gratign\u00e9 ma vie, mais je r\u00e9alise qu\u2019elles ont aussi \u00e9t\u00e9 le brouillon de ma r\u00e9ussite. Je le comprends maintenant, et je prends le temps d\u2019appr\u00e9cier ma r\u00e9silience, de compter mes b\u00e9n\u00e9dictions et d\u2019\u00e9garer en for\u00eat la plupart de mes petits chagrins incrust\u00e9s. Oui, oui, vous devez me croire; je n\u2019entends presque plus mon c\u0153ur brailler.<\/p>\n
\u00c9tendue bien souvent sur le divan rouge du salon ou sur le vert kiwi de la verri\u00e8re, j\u2019ai eu amplement le temps de revisiter mon pass\u00e9, mes exploits, mes \u00e9preuves, et j\u2019en conclus que tout a \u00e9t\u00e9 n\u00e9cessaire. J\u2019ai aussi pu reconna\u00eetre et m\u2019approprier quelques belles qualit\u00e9s fort aidantes \u00e0 mon succ\u00e8s\u00a0: la cr\u00e9ativit\u00e9, l\u2019audace, la pers\u00e9v\u00e9rance et le courage. \u00a0Ce confinement a \u00e9t\u00e9 pour moi comme une longue convalescence \u00e9motionnelle qui a finalement accouch\u00e9 d\u2019une nouvelle \u00e9nergie vitale. La souffrance a foutu le camp et mon app\u00e9tit de vivre pourrait d\u00e9vorer un volcan. L\u2019inaction m\u2019a forc\u00e9e \u00e0 r\u00e9fl\u00e9chir, \u00e0 assumer ma force et ma fragilit\u00e9. J\u2019ai appris \u00e0 voir clair et plus loin que le bout de mon nez.<\/p>\n
Ayant eu tr\u00e8s peu de choses pour m\u2019\u00e9tourdir, j\u2019ai \u00e9t\u00e9 beaucoup plus calme, moins entreprenante, plus profonde, et plus en harmonie avec la nature et mes r\u00e9els besoins. Les amiti\u00e9s d\u00e9cevantes se sont dess\u00e9ch\u00e9es et les pies assourdissantes ont fui mes parages. J\u2019ai aussi fait la paix avec les deux chipies \u00ab\u00a0Vieillesse et Retraite\u00a0\u00bb (lettre publi\u00e9e le 13\u00a0mars dernier) et au lieu de les ignorer, j\u2019ai accept\u00e9 de faire partie de leur club. \u00c0 bient\u00f4t 75\u00a0ans, il n\u2019est pas trop t\u00f4t!<\/p>\n
\u00c0 mesure que la normalit\u00e9 se r\u00e9installe, la joie et le plaisir de socialiser refont surface. Un bon d\u00e9jeuner au resto, une f\u00eate d\u2019enfants, une visite dans une bouquinerie, un caf\u00e9 entre amis et la musique valsent rapidement dans nos t\u00eates. Je vous le jure, ces jours-ci, une couronne de possibilit\u00e9s encercle mon occiput. Mon premier voyage en bagnole sera certainement de refaire une \u00e9ni\u00e8me fois le tour de ma Gasp\u00e9sie natale pour respirer l\u2019air de la mer, manger du poisson frais et emmagasiner dans ma t\u00eate et dans ma cam\u00e9ra des paysages \u00e0 couper le souffle. N\u2019avez-vous point, vous aussi, l\u2019impression de revivre, all\u00e9g\u00e9s, curieux, et encore plus amoureux de la vie? Je vais \u00e9galement r\u00e9int\u00e9grer mon r\u00f4le honorifique de fondatrice visitant avec un immense plaisir nos courageux franchis\u00e9s un peu partout \u00e0 travers le Canada. Et, au d\u00e9but de l\u2019\u00e9t\u00e9, j\u2019aurai l\u2019extr\u00eame bonheur de vous pr\u00e9senter un petit chef-d\u2019\u0153uvre con\u00e7u par l\u2019\u00e9quipe cr\u00e9ative de l\u2019entreprise\u00a0: Un tout nouveau grand menu de d\u00e9jeuners.<\/p>\n
Cora<\/p>\n
\u2764<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Encaban\u00e9e dans ma grande maison aux six divans, j\u2019ai enfin eu le […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":414,"featured_media":4428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lettre-mme-cora"],"acf":{"img_en":"","contenu_en":"I have finally had time to think, cooped up in my big house with six sofas. For the last 30 years, I have been travelling all over this vast country, setting up beautiful big breakfast tables from coast to coast. I pretty much needed to be prescribed time-off in order to calm my hormones. The pandemic and its long confinement have finally done that.\r\n\r\nAt first, like everyone else, I raged against this terrible calamity that no one had seen coming. I mourned the early death of far too many elderly people. Masked from ear to ear, I feared for my own life, for those of my children and grandchildren. I prayed for our loved ones, our franchisees, our employees, our customers and for the entire planet. Every morning I walked a few kilometres in nature to calm my mind and clung to the unfailing wisdom of the trees.\r\n\r\nDuring this compulsory isolation, I had all the time in the world to reflect on my life, my foolishness, my excesses and my stubbornness to succeed at all costs. As if my life depended on it, as if the number of restaurants was the only yardstick I could measure myself by. And then the dreaded virus arrived, upsetting our habits, our beliefs and my firm conviction to live to a hundred. I still want to, but with a little more detachment, like I feel when I send out a wish to see the sun tomorrow.\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s a fact: I am no longer at the helm of anything important. And I am surviving, happy to still be alive, with faith in the future. Wishing to keep in touch with our valued customers, I started writing a letter every week at the beginning of the pandemic, and I am now approaching my 150th<\/sup> letter. I have reconnected with my former passion! Writing, I confess, has been the most effective therapy. It has cleared my head of a heavy past. My best and worst memories are now lost in a jumble of paragraphs, most of them swallowed up by oblivion.\r\n\r\nI used to get so upset about not being able to accomplish everything I wanted to. Sometimes hope abandoned me completely, but I stayed upright, holding tight to the wing of a crow or, even better, a wolf\u2019s paw. Today I am much stronger. I have lost feathers, but I have won the battle. Hardships scarred my life, but these inflicted marks were also the blueprint for my success. I understand this now, and I am taking the time to appreciate my resilience, count my blessings and scatter most of my small hardened sorrows in the forest. It\u2019s true, I hardly hear my heart bellow anymore.\r\n\r\nLying on the red couch in the living room or on the kiwi green one in the solarium, I\u2019ve had plenty of time to revisit my past, my achievements, my trials and tribulations, and I\u2019ve concluded that it was all necessary. Inaction has forced me to recognize and acknowledge inner strengths that have helped me succeed: creativity, audacity, perseverance and courage. Confinement for me was a long emotional convalescence that yielded a new vital energy. The sense of suffering has fled and my appetite for life could devour a volcano. I\u2019ve learned to reflect, to own my strength and fragility. I\u2019ve learned to see clearly and look beyond the tip of my nose.\r\n\r\nHaving had very little to overwhelm me, I\u2019ve been much calmer, less enterprising, deeper and more in tune with nature and my real needs. Disappointing friendships have dried up and dizzying magpies have left my vicinity. I have also made peace with the two bullies, Retirement and Old Age (letter published on March 13), and instead of running away from them, I have accepted to be part of their club. At almost 75, it\u2019s not a moment too soon!\r\n\r\nAs normal life returns, the joy and pleasure of socializing resurface. A good lunch at a restaurant, a children's party, a visit to a bookstore, coffee with friends\u2026the music is soon playing in our heads once again. It seems these days a crown of possibilities encircles my head. My first road trip will certainly be to my native Gasp\u00e9 once again to breathe the sea air, eat fresh fish and capture stunning landscapes with my mind\u2019s eye or the click of a camera. Don\u2019t you also have the impression that you\u2019ve come back to life, lighter, more curious and even more in love with the world? I will also be returning to my honorary role as founder, eager to visit our indomitable franchisees across Canada. And, at the beginning of the summer, I will have the great pleasure of presenting to you a little masterpiece produced by the company\u2019s creative team: an all-new breakfast menu.\r\n\r\nCora\r\n\r\n\u2764"},"yoast_head":"\n