Ciao

Friends,

It's time.  I was hoping to make this as reflective and cool as possible but I ended up deleting everything.  The truth is, there aren't words that could be used to sum up the past four months.  So I'm not going to use many.  

Europe took hold of my life and has given me friends, new eyes, and a home.  I am so grateful.  

Thinking about my plane flying over Tuscany already makes my heart hurt and I realize that I will probably look back on more than half of the memories that have been made and remember them as if they were dreams.  That's what it all feels like, really.  

In America, I'll think of the guys who sell the light up sling-shot helicopters in every piazza and wonder how many they managed to sell that day.  Whenever I smell leather, cigarettes, or incense, I'll be reminded of the streets of Florence.  I'll think about the feisty vendors at San Lorenzo Market and churches I climbed.  My love for balsamic and my roommates will carry on with me, along with Pino's pesto and Turkey Best.  I'll recall my last afternoon in Italy, sitting on the stairs of Piazza Michelangelo with good friends, a sunset over the city I love, and a musician serenading anyone listening with U2's "With or Without You."    

My God.  This could be the best dream I've ever had.

“What is that feeling when you're driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing?  It's the too-huge world vaulting us, and it's good-bye.  But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.”

-Jack Kerouac

   

I'm ready for you America-- especially for my mom and dad, Chris, and my fish.  It's been too long.  Less than 24 hours away from squeezes!  Onto the next legendary chapter...  

Keep it real, Italy.  Thank you, I love you, and I'll see you soon.

A