June has been a month of movement for us. We’re clearing out two houses at the same time. When we bought our current house—the only home we’ve ever owned—I thought we’d never have to move again. Over the course of our 50-year marriage, we’ve moved over 50 times, but I stopped counting after the 50th […]
Today, I remembered the day our daughter and her family moved back to the USA, which was several years ago. They kept their house here in Italy, so in the beginning we had to go there frequently. We had to empty the fridge, close windows, and tidy things up. Then we went upstairs to strip […]
Autumn is slowly creeping into our area. The grape and olive harvests are in full swing. The days are lovely and warm, but not uncomfortably hot. Nights are sometimes cool enough for a light blanket. For some reason, autumn always reminds me of Nonno’s house, our summer home. It’s the house my husband was born […]
The Golden Years are touted as a time of leisure, free from many responsibilities and rigid schedules. A time to enjoy life, and maybe even a little prosperity. But for many seniors, the Golden Years might more accurately be described as the “Worry Years”. Because they often bring fear and concerns about declining health, the […]
Now that both of my parents have passed away, my brothers have been “death cleaning.” I know it hasn’t been easy, especially for my youngest brother who has always lived there. They hired an estate sale agent, which made the process easier and hopefully reduced some of the emotional stress. I don’t have many childhood […]
In the 1970 musical Scrooge, even the grumpy Christmas-hating Scrooge eventually realized that “December the 25th is the dearest day of all the year!” (Watch the trailer here.) I never needed any convincing about that. The sound of Andy Williams singing that Christmas was “the most wonderful time of the year” had always filled our […]