A Moveable Feast

“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.” -Ernest Hemingway

While I miss a real Thanksgiving feast, this year I am so thankful for the “moveable feast” that is my study abroad experience.  To me, Thanksgiving is about celebrating family and food. These happen to be two things that Paris has a lot of. The friends I have made in Paris are like a second family to me. It’s hard to imagine the time before they were in my life, even though it was just a few months ago.

I don’t look forward to the day I have to leave this all behind. This feels like my life now, and my life back home feels like a distant memory. I don’t know where life will take me once I leave Paris. I hope that I will be back someday. But who knows what will happen in the future, so I must make the most of the days I have left. The days are running out until I have to say goodbye. Saying goodbye will not be easy, but the most difficult goodbyes are the ones that mean the most. I would much rather say goodbye to my time in Paris than never have lived here at all. So, I am thankful for goodbye. Even when I leave Paris, Paris will not be leaving me. Paris will stay with me in the beautiful friendships it started, the adventures we had, and the way I learned to throw open the windows and let in la vie en rose.

Oh, I am also thankful for chocolate éclairs.