A week before we were to go to Paris to sort out the school and apartment situation, we got a note from a friend. All she asked was “when? and … can we plan a little gathering for you and the family.” We were touched by her generosity of spirit. Herminia Ibarra and I met at the Thinkers 50 where she was recognized as the *most* influential thinker in the leadership category. Turns out we share an amazing literary agent, Carol Franco.

As you can see in this little video, her home and friends were lovely. Her family is from Miami, so her son spoke fluent English, Spanish, and French. Her kitchen sign of to-dos — one of the first things we noticed… had things like citron (lemons) and Philadelphia. Which just made us smile.

If I ever make you some salad with pomegranate seeds and spinach, know I got the recipe from Herminia… and it will always remind us of this warm spring evening and the loving welcome.