I wrote this before I left on vacation and scheduled it to be posted today. In other words, if I have died on my vacation I want to assure you I’m not posting from the beyond. Although I’m totally gonna try that if/when I die.
Today we’re on our way to San Francisco. I’ve been there many times over the past 20+ years, but I always look forward to going back again. Besides the city being beautiful and there always being lots to see and do, there are fabulous restaurants and shopping. No matter how long the visit, I’m never ready to leave.
I want to share one of my favorite memories of San Francisco. I was on a reunion trip with three other girls from high school. We had gone there for a class trip our sophomore year and vowed to return in ten years (that would make this 1994, math geniuses). And we did this reunion trip right. Instead of sleeping on the floor of a grade school gym like we did in 1984, we stayed at The Palace. Instead of 
riding around in a van full of farting boys, we traveled by limousine. It was a trip that represented many things to us, not the least of which was enduring friendships.
For the most part the four of us agreed on the things we wanted to do, but there was one day we were all headed in different directions and I ended up spending the day alone. I loved it; the weather was perfect and I walked all over the city, shopping and sightseeing. Late in the afternoon I got in line at the Ghirardelli Square cable car turnaround to head back to the hotel. The line was long and I stood there for more than two hours looking out into the bay and watching street entertainers. I remember feeling complete happiness with my place in life at that moment. It was really the first time I’d ever done anything so independent, traveling around a strange city by myself but not feeling scared or that I didn’t belong. I fell in love with San Francisco when I saw it for the first time in 1984, but I fell in love with my adulthood when I came back ten years later.
beautiful post!
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