Magical Mystery Tour

I'm not even sure I can blog about it. It was so incredibly wonderful and magical that I'm afraid talking about it will spoil it...

Dear Friend and I had the time of our lives on our 10-day whirlwind tour of Europe. It was amazing, more fun than you could possibly imagine, and incredibly romantic. I could hardly have fathomed that pairing an off-the-scale introvert (him) and an off-the-scale extrovert (me) 24/7 for 10 days would have a good effect on our relationship, but it did. We meshed about as well as two traveling companions possibly could.

The only fly in the ointment was that The Hydra did not allow me to talk to the children for an entire week. He has all kinds of excuses as to why his refusal to answer my calls (or turn his phone on at all) wasn't malicious, of course. I don't buy a word of it.

He did it to try and ruin my trip. He failed, of course. Utterly. But he used his own children as pawns against me. My daughter (age 7) was clearly extremely stressed by this, and it will take me years to get over the fury I feel at him.

I know Jesus said to forgive and pray for your enemies, but I'm having a hard time being a Christian today.

But then I think about the evenings that Dear Friend and I sat on the rooftop terrace of our hotel in Florence, drinking Chianti and watching the sun set over the Arno River below us, and I start smiling again.

My friends, I can assure you---there is still magic in the world. And for 10 glorious days, I got to float in it.