long lost friend

if you would have asked me three years ago if i would ever find myself living in paris, i most likely would have said no. if you would have asked me last year this very day if i would find myself living in paris, i would have said no. heck, if you would have asked me up until about october of last year, i probably would have said no.

and yet, here i am living in france.

i have been here for almost two months, and i feel it is appropriate by now to call it my city. i have earned it. i have explored it daily for weeks. i am a part of it, it has become a part of me. people can ask for directions and i do not even have to consult a map. when i return and people ask me where i have lived, i can say, with pride, Paris, France.

again, go back three years, back to my senior year of high school. as i walked through my gym -- a place where i had spent so many hours, even days, of my life -- wearing a cap and gown, i walked out of that time of life. i threw my cap off with a flourish as a few tears escaped my eyes, and then said goodbye. graduation day. none of us really knew where our lives would take us. it was strange to leave all those years and memories and friends behind. many of those friends i haven't seen since.

i hadn't seen my dear friend Giulia in almost three years. we spent five days a week practically every week of our k-12 lives together and then, that was it. at least until today. Giulia just happened to be in paris, so we decided to meet up. we met in front of the Notre Dame and it was like no time had passed. we spent hours catching each other up on the past three years. we couldn't believe that we hadn't seen each other in so long, and when we finally do, we sit on a parc bench. in paris. life is a funny thing. you never really know what is coming next. but every day is an adventure.

sitting on a bench three years ago, at pinewood

sitting on a bench today, in paris

and now, because life is a funny thing and death happens to be a part of it, a series of more macabre photos from yesterday. taken all in black and white.

keep the adventures coming!