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North Texas Couple Grateful To Be Home From Paris

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DALLAS (CBS11) — A North Texas couple is grateful to finally be home from Paris, and the couple's family is relieved to see them safe.

International travelers kept a steady pace Saturday at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport's international terminal, but the couple CBS11 met was originally set to be on the one flight from Paris that American Airlines had to cancel Saturday. They said they couldn't get home soon enough.

It was a dream vacation for Pastor Paul Shearin and his wife Lisa to celebrate their 25th anniversary. Friday was their last night in Paris. They had just made it back to their hotel when the terrorist attacks began.

"It was just chaos with cars everywhere, everything blocked off, and you know the city that was just so busy just went to a standstill," Paul Shearin said.

The series of coordinated attacks that killed more than 100 people left the Shearins wondering if the next attack could strike their hotel.

"It was pure shock. I just couldn't believe it," Lisa Shearin said. "I mean it's one thing to be in France when this happened, but to be actually in Paris and be in the vicinity when this happened, it was a shock."

Although the Shearins parked their car near the airport, their two children couldn't wait to see them and drove an hour from their home in Italy to meet them shortly after they got off the plane.

"Seeing that makes life become very precious, and you realize just how short it can be if you're not that careful," Paul Shearin said.

Despite how their trip ended, the Shearins say they loved Paris and their experience with the French, and they plan to make another trip to Paris in the years ahead.

(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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