Paris je t’aime

How could I write anything else today, other than how my heart is so full of sadness?

Saturday morning began in New Zealand. We were so happy and full of joy as we celebrated my son’s 6^th birthday. He woke up to a room of balloons, opened his presents and then we had our traditional birthday breakfast.

Two hours later I was downloading some of the photos of him to email to our family and an alert came over my screen. Something serious had happened in Paris. I told Guillaume discreetly that he should check Le Monde. From then on, we, like everyone else around the world, were glued to our phones and checking Twitter for updates. The horror.

I watched our little birthday boy outside in the garden playing carefree with his brother and sister, knowing that at that very moment on a Friday night in Paris, other people’s children were being taken away from them forever. I felt sick to the pit of my stomach. I felt like crying. I looked to Guillaume and I had no words. He was heartbroken.

Last night, after the birthday weekend came to a close, we chose to explain to our children as best we could of what happened. At first I wanted to protect them from such horror, but then I knew that that the children at school would be talking about it today. How do you explain such a thing? Like other parents around the world, we did it as truthfully as possible. Then we turned to the positive as much as we could, the stories of heroes, acts of kindness and love that give you some hope, like of what this woman who escaped the Bataclan so heartbreakingly and eloquently wrote about.

It’s been a devastating weekend for France and the French community around the world. We are crying together. Paris je t’aime.

Mel xx