by Angela McNutt (Spokane, WA)THIS EVENING I joined my friend Andrea at Caffe Commercio. During part of our discussion we began to talk about family.
I live in Washington. My parents, and one of my older brothers, live in Wyoming. My other brother lives in Sweden. My grandparents live in Nebraska, and aunts, uncles, and cousins are spread around there, as well as Texas and Wyoming. I see them all very little because the distance is far and the amount of time I have to travel to them, it seems, is too little.
For Andrea, and like many Cagli residents, their family, even extended, live here in Italy, in Cagli. They are able to see each other everyday. This difference struck me as Andrea shared stories of visits with his grandfather. How fortunate, I thought, to live in a family-valued culture where moments and stories between family can be shared and made each day. It’s not that the United States doesn’t value family, but for many, we are encouraged to go out and make a new life, separate from our family, and often times, away from our family. Sometimes we return to our home, but to have everyone - parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, all in one place, would certainly mean something special to me. Now I wonder, do family reunions, the large events that they are in the states, exist in Italy?
