Anniversaire . . .

When I took Paula to her physical therapists appointment today, she told Ingrid that today was our anniversary. And Ingrid responded in her best French accented English, how many years? When Paula told her twenty-nine, she gave back this sort of puzzled look. Like I know you and you are more than twenty nine years. But the French word for birthday is also anniversaire. Well anyhow Ingrid wished Paula a happy birthday, and Paula laughed and understood that she thought that she was telling her that she was twenty-nine years old.
The therapist finally caught on, and they both had a good laugh.

When I met Paula just over thirty-one years ago. I had no idea what adventurous roads our lives would lead us down. Paula and I have been to all but two states, Wisconsin and Hawaii. To all the Central American countries and some South American, many of the Caribbean islands (and oh what places those are . . .) Taipei, Taiwan, and several of the cities in the Philipine Islands. To say that we love to travel would be a massive understatement. In the very short time that we have been in Belgium, we have picked up a lot of the French language, which is not quite as hard as it is made out to be. I cannot imagine a life without my closest friend that I've ever had, Paula. It is her that has made my life soo enjoyable. When I first arrived in Europe in late October, I began to see and experience many things, but I always ached for the time that she would get here. Because the Belgian Waffles, Chocolat, and many other European delicacies just did not taste quite as good without her tasting them with me. Now that she is here, we are definitely in for the ride of a life-time.