What was my weeklong funk (intensified dysthymia; it happens with brutal regularity), just now converted to pure joy. For I just now learned that my daughter, E.J., will be spending her Rotary Exchange senior year in …

FRANCE.

My daughter has two-and-a-half rather shaky years of high school French under her dozens of Forever 21 belts, but they won't be shaky after 10 months in France. The odds of her landing that destination were, as they say, slim to none, yet somehow it worked out. I am overjoyed. I'm already missing her, even though she won't depart for six months. Still, the educational, cultural and many other benefits that she'll derive from her senior year in France will more than compensate for what I know will be a very lonely year without her. And for now, anyway, I am absolutely overjoyed -- and I wanted to share my joy with you.