An Evening in Paris by Gerri Brousseau

Have you ever had a dream, I mean a life-long dream, a dream which began as a twinkle of excitement when you were a child.  A dream you have held in your heart for your entire life?  It is exactly such a dream I wish to tell you about today.  When I was a child of the tender age of five, I often wandered into my parents' room to try on my mother's shoes, as most young girls are known to do.  One lazy afternoon while clomping around in my mother's black peep-toes pumps, I took notice of what was on top of my mother's dresser.  I think children do enjoy snooping through their parent's things, and I was no exception.

My mother had many beautiful things on her dresser from a silver comb, brush and mirror set to many bottles of perfume, but today a new bottle had made a debut appearance.  This bottle captured my immediate attention.  It was a bright blue bottle with a silver cap that twisted up into a point.  The cobalt blue bottle had a silver label on the front with the simple words swirled across the front naming the perfume.  An Evening In Paris.  The box had a couple walking with a view of the Eiffel Tower in the background.

After its arrival, I would sneak into my parents' room and gaze longingly at the beautiful blue perfume bottle and dream.  Once I got the courage to remove the top and take a whiff.  In my child's mind, I imagined this to be what Paris surely must smell like.  In retrospect, this was probably perfume purchased from the drug store, but to me it was something that formed a dream I carried in my heart my entire life.

From those days of my youth, I held the dream of one day going to Paris.  My parents were not wealthy and, although the topic was never discussed, I now realize they struggled financially for a good part of their lives, although I grew up never realizing that.  Needless to say, a trip to Paris was not in the cards.  Still, I stole away as often as I could to gaze at that bottle.  I never spoke of my desire to go to Paris, but buried it.  Yet, I coveted that bottle.  One day I asked my mother if I could have the bottle when the perfume was gone and soon enough, that bottle made its way to my dresser.

As I grew older and prepared to enter high school, it came time to select my classes.  I discovered it was a requirement to take a foreign language.  Being raised in an Italian household it was expected I would sign up to take Italian, but that was not the case.  Much to my family's surprise, I selected French.

Years passed and my collage years came and went, and over time, the blue perfume bottle was lost.  I met a man, dated and married and had a child.  To say Paris was on the back burner would be an understatement.  A trip to Paris was not even on the stove, let alone the back burner.

Raising a child, running a household, working full time and being a wife took over my life.  My son grew, and the years passed.  Before long, he was preparing to enter high school.  I was quite surprised when he decided to take French.  What fun it was to finally be able to have a conversation in French with someone.  I was surprised to find he had the same teacher I had when I went to school there.

Now comes the twist.  My son's French class was planning a trip for spring break.  A trip to France.  I recall looking through the documents he brought home and closing my eyes recalled with fondness that old blue bottle of drug store perfume and my dream to spend an evening in Paris.

It came time for the parents to meet with the teacher to discuss the details of the trip.  That was when his French teacher invited me to go along on the trip as a chaperone.  I was thrilled beyond words.  We happily did the fund raisers, got our passports and before I knew it, we were on a plane to Paris.

I stood before the Eiffel Tower with a lump in my throat and tears welling in my eyes as I realized the dream which laid silently in my heart for 40-years had finally come true.  That was my first evening in Paris.

I hadn't thought of that old bottle of perfume in years until today when after suffering a bout of writer's block, I remembered it.  I remembered how long I held that dream in my heart.  Oh, it may have been forgotten for a while, but it was never gone.  Now, a new dream has taken its place.  A dream of being a published novelist, and I realized today, I will hold this dream in much the same way, until I stand there and with a lump in my throat and tears welling in my eyes, I see my dream realized.  I just hope I don't have to wait another 45-years!  Have you ever had a dream, I mean a life-long dream, a dream which began as a twinkle of excitement when you were a child.  A dream you have held in your heart for your entire life?  A life-long dream that came true?

Filed under: romance