And now my parents were going to try and recreate another perfect life for us back in France.I knew things would be different.I thought about breaking...the news to everyone. Both times.When I had left France, things were different. So much more phony, we had had a stupid going-away-for-only-a-little-bit party for crying out loud! The people I left behind had moved on quickly, yet pretended they wished I was there.When I left California, things were hard. The six of us had gotten together and. "Oh gross. I need to cut my toenails. But, is..." She held her foot in her hand, pulling it closer to her face. Again, her brain noted differences in what should be there but, beyond her toenails looking like they belonged on an unkempt 90 year-old bum, she saw nothing. Finally, she put it down to her period like she did with her breasts. Does water retention happen in the feet and legs, too? She wondered. She'd only ever had her breasts get a little bigger when her period came and that wasn't. M Street views overlook the Potomac and the Virginia side. (For the natives, never mind the details of Canal Road). It’s a huge place, with options on houses on either side.If you’ve ever seen the movie, The Exorcist, and remember the scary steep stairway, that stairway is real and runs from Prospect to M. It’s well to the west on Prospect, and the vertical distance. It should give you an idea of the size of the building.We have several floors that might seem mostly underground, except that. "Robbie... Mom bought this dress earlier this week. Itwas supposed to be a surprise. " Surprise for what?" I stammer.More softly Jen tells me, "Robbie with the steps you had made over thepast week Mom and I thought that this day was coming and we wanted to beprepared. We just didn't think it would be this soon.Confused I asked, "You bought it for me? You prepared for this?" Istarted getting upset until she stopped me with a touch on my arm andgentle smile."Robbie all we have been doing is try.