“How do you know how to do all this?” Dad asked me as we stood together waiting for the metro in Madrid. “Do what?” “This–trains, buses, subways . . .” “On that high school trip to London, Mr. Briggs taught us how to use the subway, and once you know the idea, they’re pretty much…
Category: Family
Getting In Cars With Strangers
“Is this safe?” someone asked on one of my international Facebook groups. They must be American, I said to myself with a sigh. I’ve had more than a few international friends tell me it’s usually us Americans who ask questions about safety. Whether it’s walking the Camino de Santiago, traveling on budget airlines, or car…
Another Friend ‘Til the End
My brother-in-law Danny took pity on Little One. The cat had, for most of its life, been in a home with a human caretaker and two feline house-mates, Taz and Puppy. But Puppy had died a few months earlier. Then Taz escaped out the front door not too long after that. And that human caretaker?…
The List
Note: I wrote this post over a year ago. After you read it, you’ll understand why I never got around to publishing it! “While you’re here, we have to fix the home phone,” my Dad said as he was driving me from JFK airport to my parents’ house. “What’s wrong with the home phone?” I…
A Date To Remember
I glanced at my phone, opened my texts. “Happy anniversary my beautiful, wonderful sister-in–law!” Wait. That’s today?! “How the f*** did we mess that up?” my husband Michael said to me. I could barely answer him I was laughing so hard. For some reason, neither Michael nor I can remember if our anniversary is on…
Cesari Street (A Grandma Gallo Memory)
Grandma explained to us that it was a tradition to give a gift to the priest who says your spouse’s funeral mass. So just before she left for a trip to Italy with four of her grandchildren, Grandma asked Father Peter, who said Grandpa’s funeral mass just eight months earlier, what she could get him…
No Deaths In The Afternoon. Or In The Morning. Or . . .
When his time comes, I prefer my father die in his sleep, at home, surrounded by his family. What I don’t want? For his death to come while walking the Camino de Santiago. I can’t recall when this possibility first crossed my mind. Probably back in the planning stages when a sibling wondered if our…
Learning Spanish: The Masked Man
My youngest sister Meg had come to visit me in Valencia, Spain. I had not yet climbed the Micalet–a tower near the cathedral–so we decided to do it. We went into the church and a sign told us to wait until we were called forth. Nearby, in a small alcove, we could see a masked…
Outrageous Goals
I don’t do it regularly. But every once in a while I make myself some (outrageous?) goals. I put a date on them. Put them out to the world. Take baby steps towards them. And then the world opens up, embraces my idea, gives me an avenue I’d never imagined, and hands me my wish…
Becoming Italian Part 5: Approaching the Finish Line. . .
I pulled the pile of papers off the bookshelf then opened my computer to the page that listed the requirements. My heart pounded in my chest as I made a checklist. I had done all the work, and now I just wanted to check once more that I had everything I needed all in one…
RenaissanceRebecca 