Soar-Dream-France: MOM is Born

I tease about going to "the country", when Sammie Cat and I go for our overnights to Mahogany Oaks. It's really only across Lake Ponchartrain to Covington, but it feels like the country to me. We always have so much fun with Mike and John. Carmen joins us from time to time.

I know I've mentioned the MOB before-The Mahogany Oaks Bar...drinks, snacks, nibbles, dinners, and great company. Getting up a little later than usual on Sunday and still in our pjs drinking coffee; we began watching Original Sin with Antonio Banderas and Angelina Jolie. When it was finished, Mike began to show me how Direct TV can work. We searched movies that might be available. Next up, The Piano with Holly Hunter and Harvey Keitel. And then I remembered: French Kiss with Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline.

Released in 1995, it was a favorite of mine. There were many films from that time period that I owned (on VCR of course) AND I also had the sound tracks. I thought I was ready for a trip down romantic comedy lane. It became so much more.

I really hadn't stopped to think that French Kiss had been released 21 years ago. Watching Ryan and Kline dashing through Paris carried me back to my first Paris trip in 1992, when I had a gorgeous ex-pat American walk up to me on the street in Paris and ask me if I had time for "a little conversation." I didn't know it at the time, but that was only the beginning.

I love Paris. I get very wistful for it from time to time, but these days I miss home most. As Ryan and Kline were heading south on the train to Cannes, they end up stopping in the countryside. They walk up a dirt path through the lush, deep forest, "Luc's" father comes to greet them, and it hit me: the first time I saw this movie I only knew Paris. I hadn't been to the countryside. I felt a huge hole. I burst into tears. It is impossible for me to imagine never having had Cadrieu in my life. I missed home even more.

These three plus years stateside have been difficult, but necessary.

I also realized that I completely missed the anniversary of the purchase of the Chatette on Februrary 22, 2002. This year, the Chatette and I have been a "we" for 14 years. But then, this year on February 22, 2016, Mike, John, my brother Tom and I were driving back from Mom's services in St. Louis. I guess I had other things on my mind.

So today: Happy Birthday to the Chatette; another HUGE MERCI to Mike and John; a celebration of gratefulness for the discovery that there is so much more than just "Paris" in France; and...