Sometimes, the world makes no sense.

I’ve had a theory for the longest time that there are two kinds of people in this world. You’re either a London person or a Paris person. I have always been a Paris person. Paris is the city of love, of hope, of beauty. Paris has been a place that has always felt like a slice of home away from home. She whispers, a city of soft and small buildings, telling you her secrets along the Seine, in the crevices of the cobblestone, in the names on the love lock bridges, in the silence of Montmartre, in sunlight reflected off the pyramid at the Louvre, in the sparkle of the Eiffel tower at night. She whispers sweet nothings, helping you fall even more in love with the city, the world, and most importantly, each other.

She is history. She is beauty. She is faith. She is passion. She is art. She is love.

Paris is for dreamers. Paris is for everyone who has ever loved another with such intensity that they have to lock their love away forever on the bridges, hoping that by throwing their key into the Seine, it means they can keep their lover forever. Paris is for those engrossed in history, who dream of the Mona Lisa, in its tiny glass case. Paris is for those who savior food like a delicacy, who know that crepes and macaroons are the sweetest and most wonderful things to ever grace your lips, especially when enjoyed with coffee in some form at a small cafe facing the street, watching the beautiful people of Paris in their high fashion walking the streets.

Paris is one of my first loves. Paris is the city I have always had as the number one place to show my son, for he dreams of the Eiffel Tower, and I know that he will love Paris in the same way I do. Perhaps not right away as a child, but will fall in love over time, like falling in love with a best friend.

So today, my heart feels heavy. Today, I mourn the loss of so many innocent lives, taken in a malicious and unimaginable way. I cannot fathom how innocent children become evil creatures who desire to cause harm in the way these terrorists have done. I cannot understand why anyone in their right mind would want to take the most precious gift of all: a life. And to do it in a city that is known for love and art, it is the greatest insult.

Today, I pray for Paris. Today, I send my love across the Atlantic, toward the city that showed me love and life. Today, I hope that humanity and love win this war.

To all my friends abroad, I am so happy you are safe. To all the lives lost, may your spirits always be remembered.

I love you, Paris. I will be back. Never afraid.

xoxo