I was completely stunned when I opened the envelope that my parents had given me after my graduation ceremony to discover that inside was a one-way plane ticket to Paris.
It turns out that my parents had been planning this trip for me for years but I had never known it. I knew that my parents were different from most parents — more relaxed, less strict, always pushing me towards any dream I hoped to pursue. I really shouldn't have been surprised that my parents had gone to such lengths to make this happen. They had somehow known my innermost desire, something that I had been wanting for years, but never thought to actually ask for.
And here I am a week later on a nearly 11-hour long flight on my way to my dream city writing in the journal that my mother slipped into my backpack just before I headed through security. She hugged me close and whispered in my ear "I have a feeling you're going to want to use that to document every day of this adventure."
