ONE DAY WITH FRANCESCA
In Rome, every thing was becoming more exhausting. Rome was the last of sixteen places we had been in Europe...an apartment where we could cook and rest in peace....in the old Garbatella Neighborhood, far away from the Tourist sights and bustle. We almost felt like home, in this place so far from home....
here I could hang up our laundry on the patio, with the neighbor women watching our every move with great curiosity, and occasionally tisk-tisking at me for not wearing more modest clothing... here I could cook our meals and save the last of our pennies to enjoy Rome as happily as we could...but, I was so tired, so tired....I had been the one who did all the planning and cared for the money, and made every arrangement for this long and exciting Grand Tour of the Continent....I needed a day of rest! At least!
Along came...a day with Francesca!
Francesca is the cousin of my ex-husband's son's ex-wife in Italy...not a relative or close acquaintance by any stretch! His son had contacted her to ask if she would have us visit her in Rome. she had graciously accepted..after a few phone calls back and forth, a date was set, and off we went by metro to the Pyramid neighborhood, where she and her family lived, to have "lunch"....
a lovely lady answered to our ring, with a big smile and a warm hand clasp: Francesca! Her home with her boyfriend and her kids was cool, welcoming, and full of other guests as well...she had invited her whole family over to meet us!
The first half hour or so was spent with Francesca translating for everybody as we tried to get to know one another! We were all being formal and 'nice'. it was time, I thought, to break the ice....
A friend of Francesca's daughter was fussing with trying to get corn-row braids un-braided and untangled in her hair... she was having a hard time! I mimed to her that I would unravel the tangles and brush her hair...without a moment's hesitation, the little girl was on my lap, with me carefully taking-out the tangles and braids and frizzy hair-balls wadded up on her cute little head! She was like a little kitty being brushed...all purrs and cuddles! It took a long time to do, and people came in and out all around us... Every one watched and smiled, and the whole room lost its tension and relaxed into a really warm and wonderful visit...
We stayed almost eight hours, looking at family photo albums. talking about our lives. the Bay Area. Rome. Everyone's hopes. plans, pasts. dreams. It was like a Family Reunion! and we were Family too....
snacks and a big meal were prepared together and eaten...recipes exchanged. dishes washed. babies held and fed. children played all around us. several sat in my lap at one point or another.
For me, the day was a wonderful release. I was with family...not mine, of course. but, among the kind behaviors and loving attentions of family...where I really belong a great deal of the time...
We left Rome just a day later. flew home to our own families and lives.
We left promising friendship.
Friendship is what has remained.
When I sent Francesca the photos I had taken of her family and our day with them, she wrote back that no one had ever quite captured the feel of who her family really is, as I had in my photos....
If you lived here, she wrote, I could see you more often, my friend. As it is, you have your friend in Rome.
I wrote back, and, I am your friend here in California, when you come here!
Neither family has traveled again so far...
but we did travel that day at Francesca's,
for one day,
into eachother's lives and hearts.
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