Lighting a Candle for Paris

Those of you who have followed the Marmelade Gypsy for a long while know that I have a love affair with Paris. A lot of people do, whether they have been there or not. And so it was with great shock that I learned about the recent terrorist attacks. My heart is broken and I find myself mourning the loss of people I've never met in a city not my own.

As I was searching for a photo for this post, I came upon the one below, taken in the home repair section of BHV. I never felt any danger in Paris during my visit. Signs marked well the "danger" spots -- a tricky staircase, a barricade. Sure, things can happen. A fall, a pickpocket, some sort of accident. But we are aware of these possibilities and suitably vigilant.

Now the people of Paris -- and really, the people of the world -- will find themselves becoming all the more so. There are no signs on a building or steps to warn us that a bomb will explode at a stadium, that terrorists will shoot us at a concert or that joy of dining at a Paris cafe will be obliterated by violence.

As I am grateful to learn of the safety of my Paris friends, I mourn the loss of that sense of bliss, bliss to be replaced by caution. But Paris has survived many terrible events in its time and if there is one thing that I believe with all my heart is that Paris will never stand down.

And we will stand with it.