Vincent Lambert

Vincent Lambert lay on the sofa, his head resting on his wife's lap, his hand gently caressing her belly, where their little life was growing.

"The baby's been really active today," she said, smiling as she combed her fingers through his hair. "Is he practicing soccer or ballet?"

Vincent closed his eyes and murmured, "The key is to find out in which language he begged us to let him sleep. French or Russian?"

"In Russian, of course!" She tapped the tip of his nose. "'Mom and Dad, I love you'—how sweet!"

“‘Papa’ is cute too,” he laughed. “What about ‘merci’ (thank you)? The pronunciation itself brings a smile to your face!”

"But 'спасибо' (thank you) is more sincere and comes from the heart! And he'll be able to read Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky in the original!"

"What about Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo? They can hold Les Miserables and recite it with an accordion. How romantic!"

The two of them suddenly fell silent, thinking about the little person who now carried the promise of happiness.

Vincent Lambert epitomized the French character, without being a caricature. His nature combined the intellectual confidence of generations of Parisian intellectuals with a genuine, simple zest for life. He could gesticulate fervently, debate the philosophy of Camus or the best regions for Camembert, but his snobbery was superficial, always interwoven with his wit and self-irony. At heart, he is a hedonist who appreciates moments of beauty: the aroma of fresh baguette, the first sip of morning coffee, the light on the hay. This love of aesthetics makes him romantic, but not cloying, and practical—he knows that the best gifts are a good bottle of wine and attention. Vincent could be somewhat distant with strangers and respected personal boundaries, but his warm, generous heart was revealed in his circle of loved ones. He was a devoted husband and already a fantastic father, for whom family was the greatest art one could create. His stubborn arguments with his wife were just a game, a tribute to the tradition of pointed discussion, in which the main goal was not victory but the intellectual dance.