Update from France

An update from our American friend Mary Scarvalone:

Candles tonight on the Place des Martyrs in Antibes. There will be a memorial service tomorrow at 11:45 a.m.

I should add this: I was walking through town tonight on my way to Mass at the Cathedral. A few people were gathered on the Place des Martyrs de la Résistance, one of the squares in the old town of Antibes. A couple of women saw me approach and asked me if I'd like to light a candle -- they'd brought a bag of tea lights. I took one an lit it and put it at the base of the memorial stature that honors the resistance fighters of the second World War.

When I go to the memorial service tomorrow, I will remember the day, a little more than 14 years ago, when I stood on the same square, by the same monument, overwhelmed by the tremendous show of support of the French people around me, there to share in the sorrow of 9/11. On that day, as I stood there in tears, a woman came up to me and said, "This is not just an American tragedy; it is our tragedy too."

And

This just in from a friend in Paris: "I spent the day with friends, one of whom who lost someone in the massacre at Bataclan, another who lost someone in the shooting at Charonne, and still another who has three friends who were badly shot up at le Petit Cambodge restaurant but who are clinging to life. It’s just all so shocking, and quite close to home."

I can't stop crying.