--SOMETHING TO REMEMBER-- 
Not all love is lost.
That is if it is taken from the right person. The right person may be someone unexpected. Someone who turns to hope when the sky doesn’t shine bright in their world anymore. Someone who feels shut down, lonely, sad. If the love is taken out of their world then they should know that in time, it might just show up when they least expect it to. I myself have seen it happen. In many cases, it’s not so much the circumstances that someone undertakes to earn that love whereas, it is more the person who undertakes those circumstances. In good time it will come. Trust me.
--A QUICK NOTE FROM YOUR AUTHOR--
I understand the meaning of sacrifice.
In the way that someone would give anything in order to keep another person safe in their life. In the way that people put others needs before their own. In the way that people live a little, but love a lot.     
Our story starts in Paris, France.  I want you to imagine the most wonderful place you have ever seen. Lights, music, warmth. The Eiffel tower standing sturdy, compelling the lighthearted tourists. It’s almost as if the rest of the world has a cape on, covering their true makeup leaving only this one shining place. As you begin to get a sense of the people and the area, dig a little deeper. Stare a little closer at the people surrounding the town. The people in the corners camping out, hiding from society. The people living on the streets because that is the only place they can afford. Look deep into the children: crying, cold, and hungry, left alone for death to soon pick them up and carry them away.
--OUR FIRST CHARACTER--
Lucile Marie.
Sitting in a dark alley all alone, 12 year old Lucile continued to cry. Her eyes became a watering hole, refilling when they got close to running out. Asking for help or food, she reached out to people walking by but she got nothing in return. Lucile’s face was mixed with emotions as she replayed her past in her head.
“Puis-je avoir une bouchée de nourriture?” Lucile questioned reaching her hand for some food.
“Désolé, je n'ai pas de nourriture avec moi chérie.” A woman replied quickly denying the request and hurrying away.
--SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION--
I myself have watched over Lucile for quite some time now. Being born in Hôpital Européen Georges-Pompidou, Lucile was a beautiful child. Golden locks of hair, and chubby cheeks, she was all anyone could ask for. But after her father passed away when she was little, her mom suddenly disappeared one day. Leaving her own hopeless young child on the streets, Lucile never knew the true meaning of family.
Waking up from the bitterness of a drizzle, Lucile began to scream. Even though there were apartments and hotels near her, she knew that her screams would not be heard. They would be washed out by the laughs and giggles from some fancy dinner party, or the splashes of the puddles from cars whizzing.  So she continued to scream for the next 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes of torture, a woman with a soft, gentle looking face hurried down her fire escape. As the women's golden silk nightgown flowed behind her, Lucile looked up, her tear face shocked.
“Que diable se passe-t-il ici?” The women screeched, questioning the motive for Lucile’s screaming.
“Je suis affamé et froid,” Lucile admitted informing the woman that she was starving and cold.
With no intention of a reply, Lucile hid her face, and went back to moping. But, within a couple of minutes the woman was right back next to her with a smooth fleece blanket, and some mouth watering green tea. Lucile thanked her, and the woman asked if Lucile wanted to join her in her apartment. Lucile agreed right away, and stumbled up the fire escape.
Arriving inside the room, the air was warm and smelled of chocolate. It wasn’t a comfort she was used to, but the room had a familiar sense about it. Lucile looked around and spotted a big red chair with a plate of scrumptious looking cookies on it.

--SPOILER--
Little did Lucile know that she had in fact been here before, many years before she could even count to 10.
“Puis-je en avoir un?” Lucile questioned, asking for a cookie.
“Bien sûr!” The woman replied, a big of course! smile spreading across her face as she sat down on the couch.
Lucile looked more closely at the room around her. Second by second, the different items in the room became more and more recognizable by Lucile. So, she decided it best to ask.
“Ai-je été ici avant?” Lucile questioned if she had ever been there before.
“Bien sûr que non,” The woman denied the questioned and hastily moved onto the next topic.
As the late hours of the night passed by, Lucile’s eyes felt heavy and she fell asleep. Before dozing off though, the woman said two quick things to her.
“D'abord, vous pouvez rester longtemps, mais aussi m'appeler Madame Maria,” in translation she said, “First, you can stay however long you would like, and also call me Madame Maria.”
So, Lucile did as she was told and fell asleep wishing Madame Maria a goodnight.
For the next week things were pretty normal. Lucile got used to Madame Maria’s schedule, which consisted of at least 5 cups of coffee a day. Each morning Lucile would wake up, and bring food down to her fellow friends on the streets. Then she would go back to the apartment and rest for a while. But, she spent most of her time learning. In an attempt of getting an education, Lucile used books, pencils, and calculators as her source of power. In less than 2 months, Lucile had memorized the entire periodic table, and read 4 different chapter book series.
One day, after eating lunch with Madame Maria, Lucile pulled an old rusty lock out of her pocket.
“Qu'as-tu la?” Mrs. Maria inquired, asking what Lucile had in her hand.
“C'est un verrou,” Lucile replied, explaining how it was a lock.
--THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS LOCK--
Lucile had always carried this lock around. It reminded her how when the day came (when Lucile had her family back) she would put the lock on the fence by the river, symbolizing the love shared in her family.
As Lucile finished telling her story, Mrs. Maria began to cry. Confused, but not too worried Lucile sat by her for 2 hours and comforted her, asking no questions.
As more and more days passed by, Lucile’s memory became progressively clear. Memories of her childhood, laughter, and happiness clouded her mind.  Although she still could not remember faces, she wondered where that happiness came from, and if she could ever get it back. She knew that she had been abandoned but she never learned why. Why had her mother left her out in the cold? Why her mother not even left a note, or anything to remember her by?
With investigative intentions on her mind, Lucile began to explore.
Since she couldn’t remember what her mother looked like, she decided to look up women with the same last name on the internet.
But, while Lucile walked over to the computer on the desk, she mistakenly knocked into the wooden desk, allowing for drawers full of papers to fly out onto the floor. While she quietly yelled at herself for being so clumsy, she spotted a certain document on the ground.
--THE CONTENTS OF THIS DOCUMENT--
Name: Lucile Lissette Marie
Date of Birth: August 2nd, 2001
Parents: Arthur Marie & Juliette Maria
Staring closer at the page, Lucile began to feel lightheaded. Confused, and panicked, she ran into the kitchen.
“QU’EST-CE QUE C’EST?” She yelled, pointing at the document and asking what it was.
With a terrified look on her face, Madame Maria responded, “laisse-moi t'expliquer!” in translation, “Just let me explain!”
But Lucile had other intentions. Without even listening to a word that her supposed “mother” had to say, Lucile ran from the apartment, tears streaming from her cheeks.
--BEFORE WE CONTINUE--
Let me share with you 2 stories from Madame Maria’s past. The first one occurred on August 2nd, 2001. The day that Lucile was born.
Crying of joy Madame Maria stared into her newborn’s eyes as her husband kissed her head.
“Elle est parfaite,” Madame Maria informed her husband telling him that their daughter was perfect.
Monsieur Marie agreed, and they both laughed as little Lucile Marie opened her eyes into the big wide world for the first time.
About 3 months later, Monsieur Marie and Madame Maria bought an adorable little apartment in paris. But, one night, Madame Maria woke up in the middle of the night and heard ear piercing screams. She immediately brought her husband to the hospital, but she wasn’t quick enough. The heart attack worked faster than she did, and Monsieur Marie passed away.
At first things continued on normally, with Madame Maria and Lucile living in the apartment. But, as the long lonely nights dragged on, Madame Maria grew sad. As much as she loved Lucile, she missed Monsieur Marie terribly. She became so depressed, that she turned to drugs as a way to cope with the damage that had been done. She soon became so addicted, that she left herself and Lucile in an unsafe position.
--THE NEXT STORY--
Our next story occured on a frosty, powdery day in December of 2001.
Approaching the steps of the convent, Madame Maria contemplated whether or not this was a good idea. She knew that she needed to find a safe and healthy environment for her child to reside in, and this was the place that first came to mind.
Madame knew that she needed to get some help for her own good (and for her child’s sake). So, she drove off to another town in hopes of finding someone who could help her recover through this difficult time. With tears streaming down her face Madame Maria had to force herself not to turn around and hug her daughter tight, holding on to the last shred of hope she had left.        
For a couple of years Lucile remained in the convent, while Madame remained in a rehabilitation center, getting used to becoming drug free. Madame was told that in 5 years she would be able to see her child again, a reconnection that she was patiently waiting for.
But, little did Madame Maria know that Lucile was taking some initiative of her own. One day during play time, baby Lucile wandered off to try and receive one of the toys that she had been playing with. But, when she stumbled across the street without permission she soon found herself lost and confused. She ended up in an ally in downtown Paris, and Lucile felt lost and scared. With no one to go to, and nowhere to hide, Lucile decided to sleep in different alleyways each night, in hopes that she would soon find her family.
So, 5 years passed by and Madame Marie came back home to the convent, in search of her child. When she arrived there, the people notified her that there had been no sign of her child for over 5 years. As the tears welled up in Madame Maria’s eyes, she felt alone again. But, instead of giving up like she did the last time, she began to search. In between putting up lost signs, and posters around different parts of Paris, Madame decided to grow a daisy bush in the backyard of the convent for each year that her and her child spent apart.
--LET’S GO BACK--
Now, we can go back to where we left off.
If you were in Lucile’s shoes how would you feel?
Running down the road Lucile did not know where she was going. Her mind was so panicked, that her feet kept her moving. One foot in front of the other, Lucile finally reached a point where she decided to take a break. As she looked up at where she was, she was confused. It was a place that seemed familiar to her, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. While she walked toward the convent, Lucile decided to head to the backyard.
Arriving in the backyard the first thing Lucile noticed were the daisies. Lots of beautiful daisies all around, almost as if they were carving a path for her.
And then it hit her.
Many memories began to flood back: memories of the convent, memories of her mom, memories of her apartment.
Dazed and shaky Lucile did not know what to do.  She attempted to stand up but in doing so, she heard a big clunk on the pavement. As she gazed down toward her foot, she saw the rusty lock sitting there as bold as brass. She realized that she was ruining the only family she had left, by leaving Madame Maria home alone, and worried.
So, she decided it best to find her mom right away, and make up. As her little legs scampered down the roads her mind felt heavy with information, and guilt.
Climbing up the fire escape Madame Maria was staring out the tall door. When she spotted her little Lucile running towards her they both met in one enormous hug.
“Je suis vraiment désolé!” in translation, “Im so sorry!” they both chanted at the same time while Madame Maria hugged Lucile tight.
For the next 20 minutes, Madame Maria explained everything from Lucile’s birth to their current status.
She ended off by saying, “J'ai planté ces fleurs pour toi,” in translation, “I planted those flowers for you,” Madame Maria whispered, while she watched a large tear fall down Lucile’s cheeks.
So, Madame Maria and her daughter, Lucile, headed on down to the most popular bridge in France. Standing at the fence along the side, Lucile and her mom took the lock out of Lucile’s pocket. Reaching towards the fence they put the lock around the chain, and together pulled the lock tight, securing it to the fence.
As the lock clicked into place so did the love shared in Lucile’s family.
--A ClOSING THOUGHT--
Not all Love is Lost.