We sat together on the back deck of our college house. It would be our last night before turning in the rental keys. So we sat, barefoot, side-by-side on the deck chairs, overlooking the city entwined with so many memories from the last four years spent together. It was almost as if we knew, keenly aware of all we had shared over the years but also how it was fleeting now. And in, what seemed like a desperate attempt to hold onto to those years, we started making plans for the future together.
They were like one might imagine. “We’ll for sure keep in touch. Every year, we’ll come back and eat at all our favorite restaurants, starting with white sauce from Miguel’s, of course! And then, in ten years, we can all go on a trip to Paris together!” The planning and dreaming went on and on. We were twenty at the time, and when you’re twenty (at least for me!), anything seemed possible, not to mention turning thirty seemed like a distant planet from where I was standing. So we dreamed. And planned. And hoped. And promised to stay tethered together into the coming years.
Life came, as it always does, and transplanted us apart. There were new jobs, different cities, new relationships, new hair colors, love and loss, heartbreak and failures, graduations, new careers, weddings, baby showers, babies and more. Yet through it all, something beautiful happened. We remained connected, rooted and tethered, by our college years.
Ten years later, an email with a dream thought up so many years before arrived in my inbox. It read simply: Paris. In some ways, it still feels like a dream. Its been a year since the trip and still, I am filled with tears of gratefulness at the thought of it. For friendship, for the years of life done together, for surviving my twenties (can I get an amen!(, for the opportunity to go on this trip, for a dream turned reality, and for Paris…
They were like one might imagine. “We’ll for sure keep in touch. Every year, we’ll come back and eat at all our favorite restaurants, starting with white sauce from Miguel’s, of course! And then, in ten years, we can all go on a trip to Paris together!” The planning and dreaming went on and on. We were twenty at the time, and when you’re twenty (at least for me!), anything seemed possible, not to mention turning thirty seemed like a distant planet from where I was standing. So we dreamed. And planned. And hoped. And promised to stay tethered together into the coming years.
Life came, as it always does, and transplanted us apart. There were new jobs, different cities, new relationships, new hair colors, love and loss, heartbreak and failures, graduations, new careers, weddings, baby showers, babies and more. Yet through it all, something beautiful happened. We remained connected, rooted and tethered, by our college years.
Ten years later, an email with a dream thought up so many years before arrived in my inbox. It read simply: Paris. In some ways, it still feels like a dream. Its been a year since the trip and still, I am filled with tears of gratefulness at the thought of it. For friendship, for the years of life done together, for surviving my twenties (can I get an amen!(, for the opportunity to go on this trip, for a dream turned reality, and for Paris…
Life, schedules, and happenings allowed for only four of us out of the group to take the trip at the time. Traveling from all varying cities and arriving at different times, to Paris we went! The trip started with none other than a champagne toast + delicious French food – of course!!!
The views from the top of Notre Dame were epic! the clouds were rolling in and just as we made our way down, the rain came pouring over the city!
Outside to Inside
Gets me every time…
Wandering through Paris, every street was filled with these colorful, gorgeous doors, and around every corner, you could find another quaint cafe to enjoy a yummy treat or cappuccino – love!
I think Paris loves me back…
BEST. MEAL. EVER!!!
Stay tuned for Part II of our Paris trip…coming soon!!!