This weekend…

…we fly off to Versailles, France where we will stay for the next 2-3 weeks.

My Love has been dreaming of this practically her whole life – as short as it has been… 😉

She is a second-generation American.
Her grandparents came over on the boat, through Ellis Island, in the early 1900’s, from Belgium, and settled in Minnesota.
Three years ago, my Love and I spent some time in NYC taking in all the sights, a couple plays (Three Days of Rain and Spamalot – I laughed so hard I hurt my shoulder), and, most importantly, Ellis Island.
After some research, we were able to find the passenger manifests of her grandparents and their children.

Seeing the names, descriptions, dates, and just plain real, actual knowledge about her family tree struck her hard.  Tears flowed… not sadness – Joy.
It was as if she had become closer to people she had never met but had still loved.
They were, after all, family.

In one of the displays in the museum was a huge pile of luggage sitting on a pier.
One of the pieces of luggage was very familiar to my Love.
A wicker suitcase.
In fact, she had been given an identical piece by her mother, who, in turn, had gotten it from her mother.  Who had brought it from the Old Country.
Another piece of the puzzle – and it’s still being used today… to store old things that mean something to her.

Well, this fueled her motivation to get this trip from a dream to reality.
So, with a bit of work, prudence, and alot of faith, she has her dream vacation!

We will stay just outside Paris, from where we will see as much as we can in 16 days.
We will be meeting up with relatives from the other fork of the family tree – the ones who stayed behind.

I am expecting to see some great things and meet some wonderful people!

I’m so excited for her.
I’m a pretty mellow guy, but there’s just something about this specific vacation that has me full of expectation.

Dreams fulfilled…

I’ll let you know what happens.

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