A Short Letter from France

Dear Friends,

Following the attack in Paris last night,  so many people are speechless. I don't know what to say,  either,  and so I will share a story and hope it comforts you as it did me.

Each of us will react in his or her own way in the face of terror. Don't let anybody tell you how you *should* feel. And be careful not to model your feelings after another's. Some of us are outraged. Others stunned. Still others are desensitized given so many years of sensational news headlines.  As a dear friend's mom used to say, "Feelings aren't right or wrong. They're there."

 There there. Take heart. Continue to share hope and comfort at every chance. With all its broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

Amicalement,
Kristi

A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE....

"The Morning After"

I was standing in Mr Bricolage,  looking at a display of window blinds,  when an old man walked past me only to stop in his tracks.  Turning, the stranger smiled and addressed me,  "Bonjour,  Dame Liberté!"

It took me a second to understand--to realize that--indeed!--what with the new table lamp I was holding out in my right hand, and the way I stood frozen before all the window treatments (and their corresponding measurements...but just how big was our kitchen window?),  I did look like the Statue of Liberty!

The Frenchman skipped off with a smile,  his door trim and his glue,  and I watched him gleefully - my heart suddenly swelling with a love for all humanity.

And for the first time since 9/11, I had the urge to reveal my roots. Despite the senseless attack on France,  and a mind still trying to process it all,  fear had instantly left me on hearing a Frenchman pronounce, with unbridled joy, the words "Dame Liberté."

"Oui,  Monsieur!"  I chirped,  "...et, en plus, JE SUIS AMERICAINE!"

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