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Merry Christmas
The crisp cold air that surrounded the house had no bearing on the excitement and smiles that my two boys had as they paced the hallway at the top of my parent’s stairs. The same hallway that I once paced waiting for my father to give us the go ahead to stumble dangerously down the stairs in haste to attack the presents waiting for us under the tree. The same butterflies in our stomachs. The same unknowing. The same anticipation that gave birth to uncontrollable smiles. It is and was the heart wrenching surprise and expectation of it all. It is Christmas morning. Christmas through the eyes of my two…
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The Story of Paris
There is something about the telling of a story that captures our imagination. It could be the anticipation of discovering the plot and then feeling the excitement of watching it unfold. Or maybe the landscapes, culture, and time frame in which the story takes place allow us to enter these places just for a moment. Yet, above all else, it seems the characters themselves arrest us the most. Their personalities. Their virtues. Their vices. Their achievements and their failures. We love the characters because, deep down, we know that we are taking part in our own stories. Therefore, we imagine ourselves within their roles because maybe we need to escape,…
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The Gray
For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be older. Maybe it comes from my tendency to avoid the present, or maybe it is a desire for what I view to be simpler times ahead. Either way, I often think about what my life might be like 30 to 40 years from now. Turning another year older over the weekend brought me physically closer to this reality, but it hasn’t extinguished the desire. In some ways, celebrating my birthday has only further ignited my passion for simplicity. A passion to be at peace within the gray. If we pay attention to our souls, growing older forces us…