coming 'home' after a long weekend with the 'far aways'

"if I take the wings of the morning....
  and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea
  even there will you hold me
  even there will you guide me"
  
that psalm echoes around in my head
again

the last post I remembered how it was sung at our wedding
and recalled the psalmist's words

when I stumbled upon Michelangelo's precious David
and my life of fifty years fell like nothing at his feet

this time Psalm 139 sings in me again
as I take 'the wings of the morning' through the darkness
meeting the sun where is rises

what I thought were tears
spill out again
but I've been told that maybe I am just overwhelmed with blessings
filled to overflowing

we are leaving our grand littles
after a short visit over a long weekend...

in my pocket I hold in my hand a little compass the bambino pressed into it as we left
a little compass
he said "bring it back..."

a little compass
to help me find my way...

a little compass
to guide me

I feel like this was the hardest good-bye yet
even though we will see them again in six weeks?!?!

as they grow older
communicate better
show more affection
become more comfortable with us
I cling a little longer
whispering another bitter sweet good-bye
how many times can a heart be torn from arms that clutch
it's all I can do to swallow the tears as they rise in my throat

we had come to celebrate birthdays..
Vanessa's 33 and our first born son...30...
we came to celebrate life...

Birthdays are so important. On our birthdays we celebrate being alive. On our birthdays people can say to us, "Thank you for being!" Birthday presents are signs of our families' and friends' joy that we are part of their lives. Little children often look forward to their birthdays for months. Their birthdays are their big days, when they are the center of attention and all their friends come to celebrate.

We should never forget our birthdays or the birthdays of those who are close to us. Birthdays keep us childlike. They remind us that what is important is not what we do or accomplish, not what we have or who we know, but that we are, here and now. On birthdays let us be grateful for the gift of life.

  
      
            
but in the back of my mind I'm remembering "80"...

and then I am actually taken back to that remembrance...in a grocery store parking lot
on the way to the far aways' new house

I hear musak
Debbie Reynolds'  "Que sera sera"
and I realize it isn't being piped in ... it's a live accordion player

all the way across the world in Germany...where we happen to be for a weekend
and the song being played
is a song that Frank's mom used to sing...
Frank's mom who would have been "80" this very same weekend we are celebrating 'thirty'
Frank's mom who passed away at the very same time Domenick was conceived
Frank's mom whose birthday was Domenick's due date...
Frank's mom who has been gone for 30 years............

the nana our children never knew

when we arrive at 'the new house'
they are all waving at the window

Santino runs to the door and pulls us in
and in his halting lisping little English he tells me he wants to play 'seek and go hide'
and so we count
and we hide
and hide again...and again
entering into that wonderful age when one hiding place is all that is needed....
but even with only two days
by the end of our time together
he discovered that there are many more places to hide than his favorite 'one'...

Timea points at us all weekend and says ..."nonni...pop" "nonni pop"...
the grand parents...they hardly know...
 

and so we spend our nothing-extraordinary-everything-precious-weekend

the sun shines on us one of the days
but lest we forget where we are...the drear and the cold make an appearance too

everything is special...the coffee in the morning

  

dressing time and the Saturday special chocolate cereal...

the new cables that make music and dancing available...

  
the pirate ships sailing on the blue soft down comforter ocean bed...and board games on the floor...

 

 

Valentine roses...one for each year together...

[their 5 year anniversary is this week?!?!?] 

and a red one for the love to come...

 
 

our precious little time
with the precious little ones

      

 

walking to the park

  

and going to mass

taking the ferry across the Neckar River

and experiencing the wrath of what I thought was a gentle swan?!?!

 
 
  

  

our time to leave comes
our time to go 'home'... to Italy where we live...
our days together come to their end
and their days continue
days of life
days of ...living...oh so far away...