Grab A Scarf

    This morning in the year 2015, France has been under attack.
    Some over or under religious fanatics, who decide to kill people.
    I can not wrap my head around it, this violence and hatred, wherever it occurs. Lifting Gods name and an automatic assault rifle, I don't get it. It matters not to me, what religion this violence is associated with, it is full blown crazy, and in Paris, damn you people.
    This city is beloved by me, and millions. I learned to wear a scarf in Paris, walk with a different gait. The city welcomed my love of black attire, and plentiful pastries. Paris is old, and broken and delicious. Cigarette smells around each corner, and people of all nationalities sit at outdoor cafes. Wine flows like water, followed by coffee, and fatigue. Baguettes in one hand, and flowers in the other. Art drips off of every surface, and history beckons you. Paris is alive, day and night, a place many wish to visit and do.
   I count myself lucky, to have spent a week or more in and around Paris.

   So on this day of grief, I remember the beauty. I walk to Jardin des Tuileries, a million times in my mind, my favorite spot. Sit around the fountain, for hours. Walk towards the Merry Go Round, just to look at it turn circles. Wrapped in a blanket some days, and an umbrella on others, I always ended up back at the Tuileries. We were there in spring, flowers were blooming, even in the melancholy gray weather, Paris was alive. People move, and move some more. So much walking, and exploring, this feeling of the past and present at each step. Many morning I sat at the church of the Tuileries, face to the sky, thanking God for such a place. I hold tight to this feeling, this morning.

    These people who have lost people, and a city surrounded by fear. I am thinking of you today. I also think about the hearts of the people who did this crime on humanity, and ache for your hatred. I don't know what causes this pain that you must have, I want it to go away. All people have to talk and figure this out, you can not take peoples lives. AND you can not take my Paris, I sit at the gardens, look up at the sky and hope against all odds for a miracle. I believe in human beings, I shall grab my scarf and be still and know.