Tag Archives: secularism

Oh, France

My heart belongs to France. I dream of living there again one day – when Chloe and Sophie are adults and independently making their way in the world, and my husband and I have retired.  I wouldn’t require much – a modest apartment in Paris, within walking distance to a park, a decent boulangerie, a vibrant open-air market and a métro stop.

After the events of last week, however, I feel bereft. I wonder if my dream will always remain just that – a dream about a place I’ve continued to idealize because of the magical memories it holds for me. It’s the place where I met my husband as an undergraduate student, where I lived and worked after college, where I  married, where the entirety of my husband’s family still lives and where my imagination wanders when my home here in the U.S. just isn’t all that it’s cut out to be.

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Dear France, I’m Proud to be a Citizen Today

France just became the 14th country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.  France never seems to do anything quickly, but they accomplished this feat in just a few short months, which is actually pretty incredible to me.  It certainly helped that President Hollande’s political party dominates the country’s two parliamentary houses. But this legislation is all the more striking to me as a dual American/French citizen, considering that here in the States this particular battle has been fraught for so long, despite the incredible progress that’s been made at the state level in the last few years.

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