Italian Chocolates

Recently, John and I went out to dinner with my college friend, Michelle and her husband Doug. John and I have a special connection with Michelle because we all lived together in Florence, Italy while she and I studied art history and John worked at a winery just outside the city. Over dinner we reminisced about that amazing time. How we were broke but we didn’t care. How our diet consisted of daily cappuccinos, crusty bread, pasta and wine, yet we lost weight (it’s amazing what walking will do for you). How our frugal living didn’t allow for many “extras”. How we were the state university students in a sea of private school privileged kids. The have-nots who didn’t give a flying leap that we had to share a bathroom in our pensione in Rome. (I mean, we were in Rome, for God’s sake.)

One afternoon I tagged along with our friend Shereen as she poked around the market and shops. I wasn’t buying anything, just happily window shopping. Suddenly, she pressed two little pieces of chocolate into my hand. I was so touched. Seriously, you would have thought she had given me two pieces of gold, it meant so much to me. I still remember that feeling all these years later. It occurs to me, in these tough times, just how important small gestures of kindness are, and how having less makes us appreciate what we have more.

Because I was feeling nostalgic, I scanned some photos from our time in Italy. Bear in mind, these are from 1993. (Hey, aren’t leggings “in” again?)

We look forward to the time when we can take the boys to Italy. And while we may not be able to afford “extras” like a plane ticket and a Tuscan hotel stay, a little Italian chocolate still makes my day.