Paul is on an Air Canada flight back to Montreal as I write. My eyes have been tearful more than once these past few days. “This is going to be like an operation,” Paul has a way of saying things that reveal both the pain and the humour of a situation. We have hardly been apart for over two weeks. We accept that as hard as it is to live separated for the next few months, it is also a gift. The gift of change. The gift of something new.

Japan is a country where even one stalk of celery can be wrapped like a beautiful gift.