Torna a Sicilia

well i know it isn't 'torna a sorrento', but we didn't come to sorrento. it's sicily and here we are at the foot of etna, who still smokes in the day and glows at night, and reminds us that although she changes shape a bit each year, she stands a witness to time and it's passing.
after a year and a half in the states we are back in italy again! we are all so happy to be here, to see our family (yes all 300 of them) and to fellowship with our church family again.
although chase is in the throes of teenhood, he still touches me with his little comments...we were in london and exhausted from the first leg of the trip, and he turns to me and says, with enthusiasm, "only eight hours till we get to italy!" i moaned and he looked at me like, why are you moaning? i love that they all have come to love both places completely. all five of us would divide in half if we could, and stay both places at once. one day we hope to have some kind of situation where we can spend 6 months in each...truly one foot on either side of the pond.

i haven't seen michela but 2-3 hours since we've been here. she and her cousin/sister cleide have been joined at the hip since they were reunited the other day. i'm happy to see them so happy. pure joy in one another's company. two 13-year old girls who can't stop smiling and laughing? bottle that and sell it and you'll be a millionaire! chase is in hog heaven with all his cousins and friends from church, plus the autonomy that comes with being a boy in a male dominated society. here boys go out at night starting at about 11 years old...not that he does, but he can, and just that knowledge is empowering apparently.
anne-marie is having the harder time, although still enjoying her cousins. she is kind of in between groups and really has no one her age /gender. she's contenting herself with the littler girls, her 12 year old cousing samuele and 9 year old cousin francesco...until chase arrives and hijacks them. world war 3...or is it 4?

i can't believe how everyone has grown. in the last year and a half there have been two pregnancies and babies born, one nephew got married, one dear friend passed ... it's been eventful. it's kind of hard not to feel left out, having been so far for so long. little by little we find out about neighbors who have moved or died, friends who have split or kids who have gone off the deep end. there is great news too, of course, like the new people at church, baptisms, life changes, growing youth groups, pending mission trips, church camp preparations for the summer... life goes on even without us, and that's what you want...but it's still hard to see your 'kid' grow up and not need you so much any more...