It was June 16, our tenth wedding anniversary, and one of those perfect days as we were in Paris.  I was with our beloved little girl and the most handsome man I have ever met — my husband and our child’s father.  I have always been acutely aware of how much his love and fidelity means.  He proposed to me in Dallas on top of Reunion Tower back when the restaurant was still Antares.  We loved it because it retained the original swanky ’70’s feel and it was fun to dine while the floor slowly rotated us around the city skyline.  I remember after he proposed they brought out a three dimensional dessert which was an impressive replica of the tower.  My favorite landmark in the world is the Eiffel Tower and, thanks to my husband, this was my fourth time viewing it.  We have never been afraid to be tourists and we also never tire of revisiting places we love.  The Eiffel Tower was the first place he took me on our honeymoon.  On our second trip we noticed scaffolding and assumed it was maintenance.  Then, to our great surprise, on our third visit we inadvertently stumbled upon opening night of the new addition of the first floor!  It was the 125th anniversary of Gustave’s tower, created for the Universal Exposition in 1889.  I did not realize the floor was made of glass until I noticed tourists hugging the walls and shuffling awkwardly.  On our fourth visit we decided to celebrate by having our tenth wedding anniversary dinner in the restaurant 58 Tour Eiffel, named for its 58 meters above the ground.  We were greeted by a hostess in black tie, who promptly escorted us up a wide, sweeping curved staircase.  The views were breathtaking, with wall-to-wall glass, offering excellent perspectives of Paris and the tower itself.  I requested a window table overlooking the Trocadéro, and it was the best view in the house.  We looked out over the long, open expanse of lawn, flanked by great fountains on all sides, spraying in symmetrical perfection.  By now, as this was our vacation, every time I ordered a drink our little one would also request an apple juice.  I figured if I was cutting loose with French fermented grapes she should be able to enjoy extra fruit juice as well.  On our honeymoon I was so proud because the French asked what a Frenchwoman was doing married to a Texan.  I received the bulk of my French from a community college and to repeatedly be mistaken as French made me feel incredible.  Now they were asking what WE (my daughter and I) were doing with a Texan!  And, by the way, they all adored my husband Burk — and they loved Texas!  Our five-year-old’s “au revoir” now sounded better than mine!  Even the woman working in one of the gift shops stopped to tell me she dressed exactly like our little girl when she was that age.  With my baby doll’s dark, Gallic eyes and her auburn hair she simply looked French.  I had dressed her in pink and white Toile for the occasion, complete with a Renoir inspired bow which was set jauntily off to one side.  Our server that night was so smitten he inquired if he could get his picture with our child.  I asked her if it was OK and she agreed.  Then I informed him that if she did not order in French she was not to have anymore juice.  The handsome man looked at me as if I were horrible, and neither my husband nor our little one knew what I’d said to him.  When she was ready for another juice I told her “en Français.”  She buried her curls into my arm and said she could not do it.  I replied she could and to repeat what I said.  At first she mumbled so faintly I would not allow the server to accept it.  Finally pulling the sentence out of her, she beamed up at him proudly.  And then I think he understood.  For the rest of our meal he was careful to speak slowly and only in French.  I almost chose to post the picture of him with our child in his arms for this post.  My husband had never looked more handsome, wearing the French cuffed shirt I’d bought him along with a pair of silver Eiffel Tower cufflinks.  A young girl came by asking if she could take our picture.  She got three memorable shots of us:  one was with all of us smiling; the second was just our girl who looked stunning; and the third was my favorite, although it was somewhat staged.  She’d asked Burk to kiss my hand.  But the unexpected joy in the picture was watching our little one next to me.  She had her hands clasped together over her heart.  Smiling broadly, her head was turned to the side with glee.  I knew then she would be a hopeless romantic like me.  Next dessert came and I was reminded of another tower and another dessert which was special to me.  The French novelist Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin — best known for her nom de plume as George Sand, once wrote, “There is only one happiness in this life, to love and to be loved.”  Feeling so blessed, I knew I had found with certainty true happiness on this our tenth wedding anniversary.