On November 23, 1980, I was walking to a bus stop to return to my hometown, which was a 10-minute ride up a mountainside. I was just a few meters from the bus stop when the ground shook violently. The street cracked open. Buildings trembled. Shattered window glass rained down. People screamed and ran in […]
36. Dealing With Disaster – Part 1
For this post on disaster and its aftermath, my wife can tell her story better than I can. The day was sunny, the air crisp, the temperature perfect. It was my second day arriving at work after a whirlwind tour of Italy. I was just about to enter the converted bank where my office was […]
35. Where Is Home?
When my wife and I married, we spent the first few months in the house that she had proudly bought for herself. She sold that house and we bought another one many miles away, closer to my younger sister and her family. We have been in this house now for nearly two decades. The other […]
34. Lessons on Perspective
Lately, I have been on edge about many things. I feel trapped in my home by SARS-CoV-2, angry that I cannot go to Italy when I want or just visit with friends and family. My wife and I have been talking a lot about keeping things in perspective. She believes that arrogance and a sense […]
33. For Love of Money – Part 2
This is a story about greed and how greed within a family can affect generations that come later. Let’s say that it happened in Southern Italy, in the family of “Domenico.” More precisely, the story begins with his mother’s family. Her grandparents owned several pieces of valuable farmland. As a result, they were able to […]
32. The Resentment Piranha
I have been struggling for a while with resentment toward a family member. The feeling stems from my view that this person has unfairly treated another relative who is vulnerable and not well. If my words of caution had been followed years ago, the vulnerable family member would be in a much better situation, of […]
31. For Love of Money — Part 1
For many years the Italian postal system has offered savings bonds. I began buying them as a young man, when the lire was still our currency. I started with denominations of 250 thousand lire (about 125 euros) and worked my way up. When I had socked away cash from odd jobs and gifts, I’d go […]
30. Fun People We Have Known
We all know people who are fun, even outrageous. When we are in their presence, we are sure to forget our troubles and just enjoy ourselves. Lately, I’ve been thinking about a number of these people, trying to figure out what makes them so different from me. Here’s a little gallery of fun folks I’ve […]
29. When You Are Not a Favorite
My wife tells me that she never liked her grandfather. He stunk of tobacco – he used to cut up cigars and smoke them in his pipe – ignored her and her siblings, and chased after young women well into his 80s. As a descendant of English-speaking European settlers in a Latin American country, he […]
28. The Village of Millionaires
There is a village nestled in the mountains of south central Italy that boasts some 30 recently-minted millionaires, thanks to a lottery jackpot. But this is no fairy tale. To understand how this came about it is important to understand how much Italians love to play the lottery. The Italian lottery system is more complicated […]
