12 years!

This weekend we went to Indiana for the funeral of a dear family friend. Like when my Grandpa died a few years ago, grief is also accompanied by joy (a birth), and celebration (our wedding anniversary.) Life, it's proved, is cyclical. I read this poem today by Thich Nhat Hanh that goes, in part:

My joy is like spring, so warm it makes flowers bloom in all
walks of life.
My pain is like a river of tears, so full it fills the four oceans.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and laughs at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are one.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can wake up,
and so the door of my heart can be left open,
the door of compassion.

I still need to contemplate that for a good long time.

Today M & I celebrate 12 years of marriage. Am luckiest girl in the world. You know me, I like to spread out my celebrating, so next month we'll be in France. Il n'y a qu'un bonheur dans la vie, c'est d'aimer et d'être aimé. Here's the view from our hotel: