On Friday  night, Eric and I watched and read the updates coming out of Paris with heavy hearts.  It is always horrible to hear these stories, and even more so when you have been to that place of destruction and hurt.

Add to that the attacks in Lebanon and other events unfolding throughout the world and it can seem like there is no hope. But, as we know, you must hold out for that little sliver of hope to survive through all the mayhem and hurtful words and suspicion. You need to…if you don’t, then evil has overpowered you and won.

One of the first things that we talked about after hearing the total dead and wounded was that we slightly understood how the people felt. The Boston Marathon bombing shook our city to the core. Between the two of us, we knew at least 20 people who were running the marathon, watching it, or living in Watertown, some of whom saw the final shoot out. It is devastating to see these things, but the responses to our event and the one in Paris bring hope.

I am incredibly grateful for our short trip to Paris this summer. We only spent a short amount of time, but the city was amazing and I will never look at American fireworks the same way again. We totally have to step up our game! I am grateful for the people that we met, both French and otherwise, and will never forget the random guy playing the accordion on the Metro. It was an amazing experience.

Next year, I hope to go back to the City of Lights and stay for more than 15 hours. I hope to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower and get scared, not by the people but by the height and wind and amazing views. I hope to eat crepes that I ordered in my crappy French and sip wine and be satisfied. These things will happen and the lights will shine brighter than before.