Je T'aime Paris

           Paris is on my mind. Paris is in my heart.

Not everyone knows this, and some are tired of hearing about it, but a long, long time ago in a land far, far away: I lived in France... just outside of Paris. I moved there in August of 2001... not even a full month before the attacks on 9/11. That day I was riding the bus home with the youngest boy I was taking care of, and a mother from his school started desperately trying to communicate to me what had happened (knowing that I was American). I hadn't started French classes yet and she didn't speak English (or Spanish~~the only foreign language I DID know at the time), so I got off the bus thinking her son had flown to New York on a big plane to see the Twin Towers. How wrong I was....

I arrived home to chaos in my 1/2 French, 1/2 American host household.... I learned the truth, and tried to comprehend the devastation. I tell you this because the following day held a moment of such complete and overwhelming solidarity, that I was brought to my knees:

An exact 24 hours after the towers fell, ALL of Paris stopped, and every church bell chimed. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. All for us. We may believe that the French unequivocally can't stand us, but I tell you it's a facade. (Most of the time ;) ). 






It was beautiful... It was humbling.




And now I ask that we all take a moment of our time to show the same respect. I can't ask that we all stop together, but I can ask that you stop now. Stop to hope or pray. Or not pray. Or wish, or blow a dandelion, or whatever you do when you want to send your love. Send your love to Paris, and wish for a swift and strong recovery.


            Hope for peace for families of loved ones lost.
                   How about just hope for peace.  

Take a moment to stop and think about 
your loved ones. Call them maybe? Hug them if they are near. Know that life is precious, it is fleeting, and it is a gift.

               I am Love *Toni