Do you ever make it to a stage in your life where you realize that everything is interconnected? You know what, I’ve been invited to the welcome party, and it’s time to celebrate…
“You just can’t make this shit up !”
“I find myself saying that multiple times a day here, since I arrived to Bucerias from Canada September 4th.
But it’s so true, so let’s enjoy it!”
Thanks 
Hello !!! I chose ‘
Well, I shouldn’t be alive, but yet, here I am..
(read on till the end if you want to find out why!)
This story developed over half a century ago in a small French village of only 400 people, mainly farmers, just outside of Grenoble in the beautiful French alps.
It was not until my teenage years, growing up in Canada, that I discovered my true heritage and the origin of why I always felt a little unique, not really fitting in like everyone else.
Something was different, but it took me a while to figure it out.
When my mother was barely 17, she left France for a year as an exchange student to Bradley University in Peoria Illinois. During that year she discovered many new adventures, and I think it was her first time in the USA, ‘the land of the free’.
At least that was the perception for young europeans at the time.
Peoria was home to one of the first French settlements, and one of the largest manufacturing centres in the country, especially for new start ups. It was known to be said that “if it doesn’t fly in Peoria, it will never fly anywhere”. This place was a treasure trove for new energy. It was home to large manufacturing companies that tried everything to make a go.
The largest employer at the time was Caterpillar, and they were at the forefront of promoting black men into managerial positions. One of those man was a 6 foot 4, pearly teethed, handsome, and dominating figure who always had a generous smile but also knew how to chat to the ladies.
You guessed it, during one of my mother’s outings, on the wrong side of town, she met Jim.
Despite her billeting parents disapproval, she would sneak out to sports events with Jim and discovered the black side of town, with all of its follies.
She was smitten!
As time past on, her year came to an end, she had to leave Peoria and return to the south of France, where she had grown up.
Unbeknownst to her billet family and her parents back in France, she was pregnant, and now, was faced with some tough decisions ahead.
First and foremost, as much as she may have loved Jim, he was married! I don’t really know all the details, but I heard she told him that she was going to have an abortion, and “not to worry”! She would take care of this little problem on her own.
I personally don’t know if Jim protested her decision or if maybe he was even relieved of her decision, but that was it!
She was leaving the USA and would never be seeing him again.
So here is this young beautiful white French woman, very confused about her future, returning to the south of France to continue her post secondary education. She planned to be at the University of Aix-en-Provence, a young and vibrant student town where she would follow her studies in economics.
At the young age of 18, she did not show her pregnancy very much, and also didn’t dare bring it up to her parents, who had initially sent her to Peoria in the first place.
As time went on it was more difficult to hide reality, and her parents didn’t understand why she was not communicating very much with them.
She appeared distant and had not been home for a while.
She kept busy at her studies and even met a young Anglo-Saxon white man from Canada who had decided to leave his homeland to follow his dreams of an education. He chose studies in Political Science in Europe. France at the time was experiencing a cultural, social and moral turning point, but education was much more affordable than in north America.
I imagine that she must have confided with him about her experience in Peoria, and the tough decisions she was facing. He was understanding, supportive and admired her strong character and determination. They were both true activist and like minded socialists, ready to fight the systemic problems they faced from an oppressive governmental and geopolitical system. They both loved the natural things in life, freedoms, food, wine and nature, pretty normal for their youth. They met like minded people and gathered to ponder their future as did the free thinking youth of sixties.
Then one crazy day, all hell broke loose, and months of preparations boiled into a massive student uprising, which took place starting May 1 1968. Mayday! Mayday! Lets all revolt against the system!
That’s the day I was born.
Amidst a student revolution, my mother, ‘the activist’, gave birth and dropped me off, or should I say, left me behind with the French child services, named the ‘DDAS’. She joined her fellow student activists to protest against the regime, along with her new Canadian partner, Sinclair.
Side bar - I only recently discovered the truth of my first few months of life from a biography written by mother’s younger brother Frank. I’m presently reading his book during this trip. He sent it to me from France this summer, just in time to receive it days before my flight to Mexico, where I am today.
The first few months of my life were spent within the French system. My name, Ives Jean-Claude, was given to me by the system.
In short, her father was not impressed when he found out about me. He told her that she had to quit university and find a job to take care of me.
I think she chose to send me off, in the hope they would better take care of me than she could.
As time passed, her mother Charlotte, a very eccentric, vibrant, full of character French woman, decided that she had seen enough. She couldn’t stand that her grandchild was spending his very first few months alone, so she came to Aix and saved me from the system, and brought me home to the French Riviera.
She would have none of it! Student uprising, political mayhem, none of it made sense to her and despite almost ruining her marriage, she made the right decision from her heart, at an age when she wasn’t looking forward to raising a fourth child.
This is when I received my new name, Benjamin.
I’ve grown to love my name but realized, when I was a teenager in Canada, that Yves Jean-Claude was my legal name. Benjamin was purely added after the fact, and my mother never officially changed it. In France, it’s almost impossible to change names once you have been registered.
There you have it, I was brought back to my family, and my mother had to take responsibility for her actions. She continued her studies in economics but decided to move to Grenoble, with Sinclair, to start our new life.
Stay tuned for Chapter two - Bracing for impact! How I grew up in the basement of a hotel restaurant, why I love flying, travelling, photography, crypto, people, wine and of course….the plane crash!
True tales of my air disasters, the many countries I have visited, and why I’m still travelling the world with my wife and soul mate. Two amazing young men, Jonah and Calijah,who we raised in a small town called Sooke, and why I miss my dog Kobe so much.
Hive-on and ‘Salut’ to my new blockchain family!
Celebrating all lives, past and present! #gratitude
