Life is too ironic to understand.
It takes sadness to know
What happiness is,
Noise to appreciate silence,
And absence
To value presence!
~Author Unknown

Not too long after I graduated and began working in a secretarial position, the grant that funded James’ job at the blood bank expired and so he had to be let go. After a few months he got another job, this time with EPA working in air pollution control here in our area, and thus we continued moving forward in paying off the debts incurred from his illness in our first year of marriage. On a side note, as a requirement for his job, James had to attend conferences on air quality and pollution controls. When one came up which required that he fly to North Carolina, I learned for the very first time that James was very much afraid of flying, and though I hadn’t thought of it for several years, it occurred me then that that probably meant the end of any chance of ever getting to Paris. But I told myself such is life and just let the dream fall by the wayside again. Soon after that I decided to stop wasting the education that my parents had worked hard to fund and went back to school one summer in order to get a third teaching field. In the fall of 1968 I finally got my first teaching job, and then 2001 I retired after having taught English and/or Spanish for 31 years. And go figure! I never did get the opportunity to teach French. And so whoooosh! The dream’s tiny, remaining flame is all but snuffed out one more time. However, all had not been lost. Life had gone on in spite of all the setbacks and dashed hopes. Over the course of our now nearly 53 years of marriage, I had given birth to our one and only child who was and is the delight and love of our lives. But wait! Are you ready for this one? She met her future husband while they were both working on their Ph.D in graduate school, and they married shortly after their graduations. So? One might ask. What’s the problem with that? Well… Where do suppose he took her on their honeymoon??? Why, where else but Paris of course and for a whole, entire week! To be continued…

You, Lord, are my lamp; the Lord turns my darkness into light. ~2 Samuel 22:29  ✝

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