Life's most beautiful moments...

Bus 67 heading south on Saint-Michel stops at the corner of the Boulevard Rosemont. One day when I felt like walking the last bit of my journey, I got off at this stop. I immediately noticed the hair salon on the corner, one of the first businesses to decorate its windows for Christmas. Among the decorations was a large sign, which in all of its calligraphied majesty, expressed the following mind-blowing philosophical sentiment:

Les plus beaux moments de la vie se partagent en offrant...

...un certficate cadeau.

Translated into English these words of enlightenment mean "The most beautiful moments in life are shared in the offering of...a gift certificate."

Well, I'll be darned, nobody ever told me that before! I even went to college. And graduate school. I never knew the secret of sharing the most beautiful moments in life was so simple! I'm sure that's what my brother intended when he sent me an Amazon gift certificate last year! Now all my loved ones know what they'll be getting under the tree this year! I'm sure my local retailer would love to sell not only the gift certificate, but also some must-have decorative packaging as well.

And...the sign is in a hair salon window! Personally, getting my hair cut has never been one of the most beautiful moments of my life, but wait, it doesn't have to be, it's just the offering of the gift certificate itself!

OK, maybe if it was in a jewelry store window, one could imagine the wedding proposals and such. Maybe something like this? "Will you marry me, chérie? Here is a gift certificate to put towards your engagement ring."

Or if the sign was at least in a restaurant, there would be the social gathering attached to the redemption of the gift certificate. I picture friends and family around the table, living life, breaking bread. Those are what I call beautiful moments.