Ciao.

Well, for those of you who don't know already, next Friday will be our last day as Italian residents. Of course I say "our" in the loosest of terms - Melissa and Ella actually flew home about 3 weeks ago.


So, as I sit here now, windows and doors open wide, enjoying the brilliant sun and fresh fall breeze blowing in off of the Mediterranean, I'm reminded of a time where I had no idea what it would be like to live in a foreign country. Now, it seems, that foreign land has clearly become my home. Like a new friend who slowly becomes an old friend without you noticing, so has been our time in Italy. But no matter how much I'll miss it, the end is coming. As of this time tomorrow, the computer I'm typing on now will be crated-up and inside a box somewhere. Our days in bella Italia are truly numbered: 9 days "and a wake-up," to be precise.


Our time here has been incredible, and we will look back fondly on it for the rest of our lives. The travel, the friends, the general sense of one-ness that US citizens here have as we face the difficulties of Neapolitan life - we will miss these things immensely. Of course there are things that I'm sure we won't miss: the driving, the garbage, the rudeness. Oh, and the garbage. We definitely won't miss the garbage.


But like always, leaving is bittersweet; a weird mixture of excitement and sadness. There's a part of me that knows I will miss this place more than any other place I will ever live, and another part that knows I will look back on it many times and be glad to not be here anymore. In the end, I'm very grateful for the opportunity to have been here, and I'm satisfied that the Chockleys took absolutely full advantage of everything Europe had to offer. If we're lucky, it may not be the last time we live here, but I'm certain we'll at least visit many, many more times.


In many ways our return to the states represents a return to the ordinary; a return to the normal; a return to the ho-hum. For that I'm not so excited. But for Chick-Fil-A, and Cracker Barrel, and the movies, and the English language...I'm excited. And, at the very least, living in Italy has shown Melissa and I that we can literally move anywhere, anytime, and make a go of it; we'll never say "I could never do that" again.


Finally, I can't help but think back on a post very similar to this one from a few years ago when we were leaving Norfolk. Our travel here was one of the biggest reasons we started this blog way back then. For those of you who know our current circumstances, the first comment on that post is particularly meaningful to me. It serves as a reminder that in this life we follow our own path, and while we are left to deal with the consequences those decisions bring, those who love us most love us in spite of - and maybe because of - those very choices.


Grazie, Italia. Lei ci ha trattato bene.

- pac