It's not uncommon these days for me to look at a friend, a relative, or an acquaintance and say, "One year ago TODAY, I was..." whatever I was doing. This hit me most strongly during the month of December. In December 2010, I endured quite an ordeal as I tried to travel from my lovely home of Aix-en-Provence to my lovely home of Jackson, Mississippi. After more than three days, many tears, and a serious lack of sleep, a man whom my mother describes as surely being "an angel sent by God to get me home" encouraged me to press on through striking security folk in Marseille.
Two days ago last year, I hopped back on a plane to return to Aix for the second half of my stay abroad. Yesterday a year ago, I arrived back in Aix having completely missed the change in the new year by being in the air with no sense of time zones, no fireworks, and no party.
This December, I have enjoyed a two-week break with friends and family from the 'States, and I will return to work tomorrow for the new semester. I miss my time in Aix daily, and my friends from France are always on my mind. Sometimes I do a poor job of keeping in touch, but they are with me all the time. (In fact, my domestic friends probably tire of hearing about my foreign ones.)
To every one of my friends from France (not necessarily even "from" France, but those of you who became close to me in France), from Mississippi, and from every other part of the world, I am so thankful that you have had such an impact on my life. Let this last year of the world be the best one ever.
