Please do no let my dreamy church-bells-chiming-in-the-courtyards fool you.  Italy is not all rainbows and pasta and naked statues (though, WOW, there are a lot of those!)

 

For all of my life, I have struggled with homesickness.  Even getting me out the door to go to school was hard for my poor mom and it wasn’t that I didn’t like school; I just really missed home.  The problem is: I also love to travel.  I love waking up in another city and hearing other languages and drinking other coffee.  But travel – especially international travel – can be laborious because so many things are unfamiliar that are typically automatic.  Every time I plug in my hair dryer, I have use an adaptor, which is always plugged into something else that needs power, too.  Ordering food at a restaurant, finding my way through the streets, figuring out how to reset the fuse in my apartment – all these things are easy at home and difficult here.  And they remind me of the things I love and miss.  More importantly, they remind me that my life, exactly where it is, is beautiful and magical in ways that may not be as instagrammable as Italy, but these things are real and true and worth more to me than anything.

 

Three of my kids just left this morning, one left yesterday – and I miss them and feel the pangs of longing for home.  So I thought maybe it would be good to just get it out there.  The things I miss.  To see them and acknowledge them and then move on with the adventure of this unfamiliar life.

 

  1.  Grey & Finn Parnell.

 

I keep seeing cute boys that remind me of them and want to go hug and kiss them except their parents would either be really mad or ask me to babysit so they can do a wine tasting and I don’t really like either of those options.

 

2.  Pilot Butte.

I miss my favorite running trail.  I had grand visions of running along the Arno river here in Florence, but I’d have to head butt a lot of tourists to do it.

 

3.  Steve Stern

 

Steve was a well-seasoned traveler who could MacGyver his way through any situation.  I miss his calm presence and cool head and easy way with strangers.  I also am struck sometimes by this wish that he could see this and experience it – and then I remember he is seeing and experiencing so much more than I am and I am happy for him.  But I miss him.

 

4.  Kebaba (and just generally knowing which restaurants are good.)

I know it seems silly, while surrounded by thousands of amazing restaurants, but Bend food is Bend food and I love it and miss it.

 

5.  Friends

 

I miss having relationships that are as worn, weathered and beautiful as the buildings in Europe.  They are tried and true. Real and rare and wonderful.  Only in leaving do I understand the size of the space they fill.

 

6.  This guy.

Maybe it seems weird to have two men on my “miss list”.  But, it’s true, I love two men. One does not displace the other anymore than one awesome cappuccino erases the memory of the last awesome cappuccino, and yeah, I just went there.  I just compared the men in my life to coffee and I’m not sorry (I am, however, up VERY early so I might be sorry later.)  Cliff and I don’t live in the same city, so we’re used to dealing with distance and it’s funny to me how 199 miles isn’t really different logistically than 5999 miles.  They’re both too far to meet for dinner after work.  However, there’s something about being all the way in Italy that makes me feel like I might as well be on the moon. And I really miss that guy.  (I had a cappuccino joke locked and loaded, but better judgement prevailed and it got scrapped.)

 

 

This list is by no means comprehensive, but it did make me feel better putting them all out there like that.  Sorry it’s not about Italy, but also it kind of is about Italy because life is life, no matter where you live it.

 

More recaps coming up soon!

 

With hope,

 

Bo

 

One Comment

  1. Hey Bo!
    I love it that you love Kebaba’s restaurant… That was Don’s and my first home when we married! So when you go in and look at that old worn floor, that was where Tyler took his first baby steps! We love that place and have wonderful memories of our first years together there! ❤️❤️❤️ Glad you’re having fun in Italy… But I recognize the homesickness too! Love you so, looking forward to welcoming you home also!