La Famiglia

Good Evening Everyone! As I sit here, writting, my eyes are slowly closing and I am having to fight the exhaustion that is making my eyelids feel like weights. I am home now, safe and sound in my apartment and the jetlag is hitting... hard. Leaving Italy was bittersweet. I say this because, as is the case with many people, I fell in love with Italy and found it hard to leave such a beautiful place. The sweet part came when I got to be reunited with my family. E and I left the airport to go pick up my car at my grandparents and I have to say, it was such a great feeling walking into the familiar home where they have lived my entire life. Afterwards, E and I headed over to see my mom and T for a beer out on my mom's back terrace... heaven. There is just something so comforting about coming home to the familiar. As much as I love to travel and explore the world... I do love coming home. I love seeing my mama and sharing all my exciting stories about the places I saw. I love telling my sisters about where I went and hearing stories of their visits to the very same places in previous years. I love just sitting with them and remembering what it is that makes me love home so much and why I love coming home: family. 

Because I am so close with my family, and because we are fortunate enough to see each other a lot, an important part of me visiting Italy was getting to know E's family. Even though he doesn't get to see them every day, he is just as close with his family as I am with mine and it was exciting to finally get to meet them. And there was just something so special about seeing E with his family; he was truly just so happy, he was glowing. 

This picture is from his nephew Cedric's (left) First Communion Lunch. The little one is his nephew Emery, the other boy, a friend. 

Trying (unsuccessfully) to get Emery to smile for the camera

I managed to catch a smile though :)

E has 3 nephews and 1 niece in Italy, and because he only gets to see them around once a year, they are beyond excited when they get to be with him. These kids love their uncle and he is just so good with them that you can see why they do.

Everyone attacking Zio

But he can handle it :)

I will share some more pictures and stories in posts this week, but for now... it's goodnight. It feels funny being back in my apartment but at the same time, peaceful. There's nothing like coming home, whether it's Canada or Italy or anywhere in the world... There's no place like home. 

With Love,

Sara