Mother’s Day and Italy

Today I was exchanging Mother’s Day greetings with an old friend.  I later sent her this photo, of my mother, her mother and her grandmother, in Rome’s Villa Borghese park.  The photo was taken almost exactly 100 years ago but the closeness of the relationship between these three generations seems timeless.  My friend then asked me exactly how I came to Rome.

Hadn’t I told her before ?

“No”, she said.

This story is really about mothers. It was my mother’s mother, my grandmother Marjorie who was the catalyst in bringing us all to Rome.

In 1918 my recently wed grandparents were on their way from New Jersey to Pennsylvania to visit my grandfather Algernon’s family.  My grandmother left the train at a mid route station to buy a newspaper, and opening it noted an advertisement for an available job as the Assistant Commercial Attache’ in Rome. She urged my grandfather, an economist, to apply : he did.  The job was his.

On February 22 1919, Marjorie and Algernon sailed on the Canopic Line for Rome.

They learned Italian, they began immediately to travel.  Neither of them knew how to drive a car, so they explored by train, by carriage, by boat, on foot, and always with a profound sense of wonder, curiosity and appreciation.

Marjorie gave birth to three children in Rome.

A generation later, also in Rome, my mother Isabel gave birth to me, and I in turn gave birth in Rome to Isabel.

We are a family of swallows. Over 102 years, from time to time, we have left Rome, but have always come back.

Insider’s Italy has, for the last 30 years, been my permanent mooring to Italy.  The love I feel for Italy goes far beyond being part of a multi generation family that is born there, but is because of an absolute fascination for its landscape, history, art, architecture, food and traditions.

I am so grateful to my Nonna and the newspaper that she purchased in 1917.

In celebration then of grandmothers and mothers everywhere : Buona Festa della Mamma !