Photographing France (Re: Discovery/Self-Discovery)
Story and photos by Joe Crachiola

In the spring of 1999 I received an e-mail from an old friend (we met on a Little League baseball diamond when we were 12-year olds). His invitation would forever change my life.

1999 was a pivotal year. Besides being the end of the millennium, it was also the year that I would turn 50. On the one hand, 50 is just another number. As time goes by, and as I grow older, the numbers tend to lose their significance. I am learning to appreciate every day without much concern for what day or what year it is. I am learning to live in the present moment.

But, the e-mail that arrived on that spring day in 1999 was significant.

It was a simple invitation that my friend, then living in Edmonton, Alberta, extended to a number of his old high school and college friends. He suggested we do something memorable to commemorate our fiftieth year. He proposed that we all meet for dinner at his favorite restaurant in the south of France. Dinner would be his treat. All we had to do was get there. Story continues...

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