Life Finds a Way
On Paris, loss, and the moments that find you
“Life Finds a Way.”
Sit in that line for a few moments. Reflect on your life, its twists and turns, its pivots, its highs, its lows. Its wins and its losses.
Over the long weekend I was in Paris on an annual sojourn of sorts. Ever since our Mom died in 2020, we have taken a few days each year to be around one another in a place one of us had never been before. This year, it was the City of Lights.
We walked over 30 miles in 4 days, got lost, got found, got inspired, got full. We also got closer. And yes, we even went to a football game.
I’m a minority owner of the Paris Musketeers and it’s one of my life’s greatest joys. Amazing people in a brilliant city, pulled together by the game that has changed my life — and at the very least, impacted yours since you’ve subscribed to this newsletter.
The Musketeers offer an amazing excuse to visit Paris once a year, be around phenomenal people, bring family and friends, and continue to warm up for the season as a broadcaster. We even had a pre-game segment about the team that would go on to win, 30-6 that evening — shorts and a t-shirt on air — count me in.
On our final night, walking through the 6th Arrondissement, I started to gather my thoughts from this adventure.
And then I kept coming back to that line. Life Finds a Way.
A dear friend of mine lives in Paris and is navigating life in a way all of us will — heartache and loss. It’s not my story to share, so I’ll respect him in that regard, but I will pull from its essence.
Picture this: he was reciting a poem he had written about his heartmate in life, and in it was that line, Life Finds a Way.
My family and I were standing in his hallway amid 89-degree sweltering city heat. With each line of his poem, that one phrase continued to hit deeper. By the end — all of us were in tears.
At first I was thinking about him and his wife, but then it turned to our collective reason behind this very trip.
I wrote upon arrival that we all planned to be in Paris in 2020, but lung cancer and Covid had other plans. Yet here we were — eating, drinking, learning, laughing all throughout those streets — only to be led to this moment.
On the third floor of an apartment in a city our Dad had never visited, as he nears his 77th birthday.
Life Finds a Way, indeed.
At dinner that night at Tekes (go ahead and bookmark it), we went around the table sharing moments and memories that stood out from the trip. There were tears, stories, and real connection. Most of all, there was humanity.
Six years after our original trip was cancelled, our family — like a good football team — found balance. Balance within ourselves. Balance around kids losing our Mom. Balance around a husband losing a wife of nearly 50 years.
Balance.
A few weeks ago, a friend from high school sent me a random text:
Thinking about your Mom this week as I plan out graduation gifts for my son’s friends. She gave me the most beautiful lamp with a card when we finished high school, telling me to always be the light. It stuck with me — and now, 26 years later, I’m looking for a lamp to give to the friends of my son who are graduating. I think of her often and try to model much of my parenting style after hers. She was such an inspiration.
A lamp from 26 years ago in a story shared on our final night in the City of Lights. Surrounded by what matters most — family, friends, adventure.
Ah, Life Finds its Way, once again.
Maybe that’s a lesson for all of us.
Much love and stay steady — and if you’re seeking some football content be sure to check out the most recent podcast with the Montgomery brothers and Dane Burkholder, as it’s a conversation every athlete needs to hear.
Yogi