The Royal Castle of Caserta Nativity Creche

While living in Napoli, Italy, we would often travel to Caserta where we enjoyed our Sundays at the Royal Castle of Caserta. I loved the creche which is encased in a large glass display and must have take many people many years to finish.

A Wonderful Summer in Galveston, Texas

Laurie Wells just happened to be taking this pic!

On Losing my father.

This Summer I lost my dad. He almost made it to 90 years old. He will be so missed by many and left behind a legacy of love in family. Although I left home at 15 to attend a boarding school half way across the country and never returned for more than short visits, my parents were never very far from my heart.
My parents married quite young and were not prepared to raise a family as my dad was fresh out of WWII and didn't even have a job when they eloped to Reno. He built a life for us in Yuba City, California, the Peach Capitol of the world. Ah well, at least that I always heard growing up. It's a little city right where the Feather River and the Yuba River meet.
 The story of their lives is quite a saga of doing what they had to do to make a life for themselves and their growing family. My parents raised us 5 kids to be quite an adventurous fun loving and hard working lot. My sister was a professor at Butte Community College for most of her life. My brother Bruce pastors an Assembly of God Church in California. My Bother Mike owns a Carpet One Flooring shop. My brother Craig is a creative genius in the world of all types of flooring and works in Georgia. We are all so different but after being able to visit together as adults, I was amazed to see how we are so much alike in many things.
Months after his passing, I can't say that it has gotten easier. I still cry a lot when I am alone but I can remember dear dad doing that so often after  my mom passed. I would be looking for him around the house and find him in an old tattered plastic chair underneath one of his many fruit trees in the garden. He would be crying and missing mom. She passed away from Alzeheimers disease a few short years back.
I keep wanting to pick up a phone a give him a call but not being able to do so, my heart shouts out,
Dad, thank you for everything.

Pearl of Great Price

Looking beyond the rough and unlovely surface of a sea shell. can be rewarding. Look beyond the rough exterior or circumstances and discover the beauty beneath the surface.

Two of my favorite pictures.

Off to University.....

Sending your last child off the college is never an easy task. That day just creeps up too quickly. It has happened to me and it is one of the hardest things I have done in  a while.
 My youngest daughter, Teresa, was born in a small village in Italy. We were living in the Apennines Mountains at the time in a wonderful little village called Campo Latarro. I hope I did the Italian language justice and spelled it right. Our home was very old and to get to our dining room and kitchen area, we had to go down a little ladder through a hole in the floor. The downstairs had been the stable area at one time and had been redone into a artsy dining room/kitchen complete with a real cobblestone floor. The arrangement was not easy for a pregnant mom to live with but I somehow managed.
When I was nearing the day when the baby was due to arrive, we were 3 hours away from Bari and 3 hours away from Napoli. Our hospital was in Puteoli, which was on the west coast near Napoli. The journey was historical and picturesque and we traveled most of the way on cobblestone roads ( I felt every bump) , under Roman aqueducts, past vineyards and tobacco barns. It's a good thing we enjoyed it as we had out share of false alarms and lots of travel time. We made the journey 3 times in 4 days. The last trip, we decided to just stay in town and visit an archaeological site and wait. The Roman Arena we found was closed because of earthquake damage but we were invited in anyway, We walked around for quite a while, pausing between contractions, marveling at the sights. As we were the only ones there, it was so quiet except for my panting.
Although smaller than the Colosseum in Rome, it was better preserved by far and my mind was kept busy imagining sea battles, gladiators and wild beasts. They say the Christian persecution was worse there than in Rome. I found wonderful places to rest in the stone elevators used to liftt people and animals up to the arena floor during the days when the arena was the central entertainment in the city.
We later returned to the hospital where they finally allowed us to enter and get ready for our baby's arrival.
What I was not prepared for, was the way babies were welcomed into the world in Italy-at least in that particular hospital. My request for a natural childbirth were snickered at by the doctors and behind my back a large nurse was called upon to come and lay  across my middle and  then proceed to push the baby out. Happening so quickly, I was caught totally by surprise, not able to breathe and felt as if I was being cut in half by a 400 lb. gorilla. I was dumb struck but thankfully, the baby arrived safe and sound. Teresa was fine but I was in shock for hours.

Some years earlier ,a young couple we knew had their baby kidnapped from an Italian hospital and never found. We determined never to let our baby out of our sight during our stay and successfully did this, much to the dismay and upsetting of the hospital staff. We were just eccentric Americans to them and they tolerated us.

And so began our wonderful years with our youngest child. They passed too quickly and now she is studying Computer Science in Nacogdoches at Stephen F. Austin University. It's only 3 hours away but too far.
I admire my fellow moms as I realize I am the latest in a long line of parents that have had to say goodbye to a child going off to college. They are ours to treasure forever but the stage changes and the play goes on.
My family is now scattered. My son, Titus and his family in Japan, a grandaughter lives in Romania, and my daughter Maya and her family in Missouri. My dad and brothers and sister in California. My son Tim was off to war in Iraq  for 2 tours and is back and now due to finish University this year. My son Jason lives near by. Perla Renee came back from Albania and Russia and settled nearby with her Russian husband. My eldest, Nadia, lives with us with her family. Or is it more accurate to say we live with her. and her family? In reality, all is well for now and I feel lonely for the ones far away, but blessed to have had them close for as long as I did.