Winding Down

As we head into Easter, we're also heading into our last week in Todi.  We have a few more weeks in Italy (we leave the 7th, I think), but we have to vacate the house on May 1.  This has been such a magical time for all of us, and it's hard to think about coming back.

That said, we're very much looking forward to seeing Atlanta again.  We all want to see how much has changed in the house (Michael's been working on renovating two bathrooms in the house, for those who don't already know), our pets, how much William (my nephew, who's almost 2) has changed, our family, our friends, the swimming pool... So we're trying to concentrate on the good stuff.

Up until we think about all we'll miss...our friends here, our silly house with all its steps, the disappearing fish shop, all the interesting characters we see around town, the hills, the gorgeous views, Massimo, the Duomo, our music teachers, the library with its funny check-out and check-in procedures (basically just written in a book), the trenino, Leonardo, "my" bank, Nonno Enrico, the olive trees, being in a Catholic country (which has been very pleasant, by the way), the history, the deep tradition, the small-town trust, walking everywhere.

Okay, now I've made it harder on myself.  We're quite smitten, and hope (cross your fingers!) that we can come back sometime.  Before we left Atlanta, the kids were anxious in advance of being uprooted.  Now they have two lives and two homes, and they're really torn between the two. 

So was this a good thing to do?  Absolutely.  We've discovered that we can find our way in a foreign country with a different language.  We have learned a lot about ourselves, history, another language, cooking, and the lifestyle in two different countries.  And we've found another place we can call home.

Love,

Alexandra