"Traveling-It leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller." -IBN Battuta

Have you ever wanted something so much that just the thought of making it a reality seemed too far out of reach? That's exactly how my mother felt.

My parents fell in love at the tender age of fifteen. They were childhood sweethearts. When they turned twenty, they decided they couldn't wait any longer to tie the knot. They knew that their love was a special love. A love pure and rare and a kind of love one would only dream about. They weren't quite out of college when they got married. They felt that as long as they had each other they could conquer the world. They soon dropped out of college altogether and my father got a job at a warehouse loading products onto trucks. The pay wasn't terrible, but it wasn't enough to take a nice trip for their honeymoon.

My mother had always been keen on visiting Paris but pushed the thoughts of that out of her mind. After all, she had married her best friend, and that alone was better than any trip to Paris.

Three years after my parents had married they welcomed me into the world. Even though she still had that yearning for visiting Paris, my mother realized that even though she wanted to see the world that I was now her world. Her heart had begun to swell with pride at the life she and my father had created.

When I turned six, my father got promoted as a manager at the warehouse he had worked. Along with the promotion came a giant raise in income. Still, my mother never spoke another word about Paris.

When I turned ten however everything changed. Supposedly every week for the past four years when my father received a check he would put a certain amount of money into a secret bank account. He wanted to give my mother the trip she had always wanted to take.

"Blair, can you please come here for a moment?" my father called into the kitchen as my mother came into the living room while gently wiping her hands on her apron. She had been busy making fried chicken and cornbread and the aroma was radiating throughout the entire house.

When my mother came into the living room, my father handed her a rectangular black suede box. She opened it to reveal three plane tickets to Paris. She gasped in shock as tears of joy fell from her hazel eyes and happiness beamed across her face.

"Every week for the last four years I have been saving money into a secret bank account so I could give you that trip that you have always wanted to take. The only thing we have to do now is to get our passports." My father whispered as he took my mother into his arms and planted a soft kiss upon her pale lips.

"I-I don't know what to say. You didn't have to do this Sam. As long as I have you and Blakely I have all I need." My mother said as she pulled me in close to have a family hug.

"I know I didn't have to. I wanted to. I think it's about time for us to have a family vacation." Dad smiled as he wandered off to the bedroom and started thinking closely about what to pack to take with us on vacation.

Mom wandered back into the kitchen to finish up dinner. When dinner had finished cooking, we all sat down at the circular dining table to eat as a family. We bowed our heads to pray and held each other's hands while doing so.

Silence fell upon the table while we all dined on the feast which my mother had prepared.

After dinner, I helped my mother clear the table and get the dishes washed and put away. We put the leftovers in the fridge to save for later.

After we dried the last of the dishes and put them away, my mother wanted to go to the bookstore to see if she could find a book on the French language. After all, learning the language is part of the experience of the trip.

We arrived at Bronston's bookstore and walked inside as the bell above the door gave a ring to alert the manager that someone had walked in.

"Welcome to Bronston's bookstore. What can I help you find on this lovely evening?" the manager asked as he made his way to the front of the bookstore.

"I am actually looking for a book to help me learn the French language. We have a trip to Paris coming up soon and I want to learn what I can before we arrive." Mother answered as she gazed around the bookstore with her fingers lightly trailing across the spines of the books.

The manager showed us to the foreign language section of the nonfiction part of the bookstore. My mother would pick a book up off of the shelf and look through it before putting it back down and picking up another. After about fifteen minutes in the bookstore, she finally found the books that she wanted so we paid the cashier at the front of the store and headed back home.

"Bonjour means hello in French. Bonjour. I like the sound of that." Mother giggled as she paced around the room with her nose stuck in the book. "Je m'appelle Blair." She continued.

The sun was beginning to set into the sky. Pink and orange hues were painted into the sky like a magnificent masterpiece. My parents came into my room to say a nighttime prayer with me and tuck me in before turning out the light.

I turned over in bed and thought back to the events of the evening. My mothers' smile lighting up the entire room when my father surprised her about the trip to Paris was the most wonderful moment of the day. I had known for quite a while what my father was planning. He pulled me to the side about two weeks prior to let me in on his little secret. He wanted to know what I thought about the idea. I thought it was a wonderful idea. My mother is the most selfless woman I know. She never asks for anything and she always does what she can for my father and I. If anyone deserved anything it was her. We both knew just how long she has wanted to travel to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower and try some of France's scrumptious dishes.

I felt a smile tug from the corners of my mouth before I tried to fall asleep. But I could hear conversations and laughter coming from my parents' bedroom. I snuck out of bed and quietly tiptoed to their bedroom. I put my ear up to listen as I peered through the crack in the door. 

"You really surprised me today, Sam. Taking a trip to Paris has been a dream of mine for years. I never would have thought it was possible to make it a reality."

"For you, my dear, I would do anything. You always make sure Blakely and I are well taken care of and you never ask for anything in return. It's my duty to take care of my wife and while I work hard to make sure we have a roof over our heads, food in the house, clothes to wear, and bills paid, it's also my duty to make my wife happy. You are the best thing that's ever happened to me."

My father's hands reached up to wipe the falling tears from my mother's eyes. When I looked into the bedroom, I could see the amount of love my parents had for each other.

"Seeing that smile of yours and those tears of joy were enough to tell me that I did the right thing. Happy early Anniversary, my dear Blair." He whispered as he pulled a stray strand of hair out of her eyes and locked his lips with hers. My mother took him into her arms and pulled him close.

"You prancing around the house learning to speak in French is the cutest thing I have ever seen. I can definitely tell just by today that this is something you have secretly been hoping would come true for the past thirteen years. How do you say I love you" in French?" He said to her as he placed a gentle kiss upon her lips.

"I'm not sure. Let me look it up." She said as her eyes began to scan through the words on the pages of the book. "To say 'I love you' in French is Je t'aime." She smiled as she wrapped her arms around my father's neck.

"Je t'aime Blair." He whispered as he twirled her around the bedroom as if they were on a dance floor with no one watching.

"Thank you so much for this wonderful gift, Sam. I could have only dreamed this day would come. This is the best Anniversary gift. I'm sure it's one we will never forget. I'm also glad we didn't go on this trip as a honeymoon trip. I'm happy that Blakely will get to experience this adventure along with us. Is there anything I can do for you for our anniversary? I can never repay you for what you did for me. I'm afraid nothing could come close to that."

"You are very welcome my love. I'm glad that our dear Blakely will get to join us. Lord knows a family vacation has been a long time coming. As for what you can do for me for our anniversary. The only thing I could want is to see you happy and I've already gotten that. But a meatloaf for dinner would be a nice surprise." My father winked as he made his way around the bed to retire for the night. He placed one last kiss upon my mother's lips before they climbed into bed.

I walked back to my bedroom and laid down as my eyes pulled closed in sleep.