“I’m not eating any sardines!” my eldest sister exclaimed!
The video call was full of laughter and argument, each trying to get a word in, as my sister made her pronouncement.
It all started last spring when I messaged my sisters. “I’ve got points! Let’s go somewhere.” Before we knew it we were researching our grandfather Guiseppe and planning our journey.
We live in various parts of the country from the northeast to the southwest but we will travel together ~~ the town mice and the country mice off to explore the world. I see us now – seated in one long row talking and laughing as we wing our way aboard Lufthansa through the friendly skies to our destination – Sicily.
Years ago, our grandfather, just 10 years old, traveled aboard a ship to the dream of America. Forty years later, our father flew over Sicily as a tail gunner, ridding the world of Mussolini and freeing Italy. This week, our father’s daughters will return to Sicily, touch the earth, dip toes in the Mediterranean, travel to Mt. Etna, and visit our grandfather’s village.
We are quite a group – texting across the country as we plan our adventure. What to eat, what to pack, where to meet? It’s not quite the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, but it’s something like it! I can see us now, careening through the tiny streets of Catania. Dosh (Dorotea) will be holding on tightly, Vivian (Viviana) laughing, Karen (Corrina) talking, and Marjorie (Margherita) riding shotgun as I (Caterina) steer our car toward our destinations. We will be a jolly group of sisters, remembering our mother’s aunts and their hilarious visits when we were children and realizing we have now become the aunts and it’s really quite a glorious thing!
If Mom and Dad could see us, they would smile and be happy for us. They would laugh at our foibles. They knew each one of us better than others do. After all, we were theirs before we were anyone else’s.
We’ll eat pasta and cannolis, croissants and gelato and though she doesn’t know it, I’m sure Dosh will even eat sardines!
~~End of Part I ~~
Keep An Eye Out for Part II
Beautiful Words 