HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAMASAN!

"Mamasan" is the name I dubbed my mother-in-law when I married her son Peter 6 years ago. Both of my parents had died by then, and she had become so precious to me and revered by me that "Mamasan" sounded perfect for her. At Peter's and my wedding, when I told her that's what I wanted to call her, she smiled a wide smile and agreed right away. Ever since then, any time I call her on the phone and say, "Hello, Mamasan!" she immediately knows it's me and responds, "Well, hello, Colleen. How are you today! I'm so glad to hear from you. You must be out for a walk!" And I usually am taking her on my walk when I call. She knows me well.

Mamasan's 80th birthday was last week, and she requested that each of her 5 children arrange a time during this year to individually celebrate with her. A year-long birthday celebration sounded just right for such a special year. She's visiting with us now, and we brought together 3 of her 8 grandchildren and their special friends for a lovely time at a restaurant for brunch. Tomorrow, two of those grandchildren will take her out for another "date" for lunch. I'm so glad that she's enjoying every moment of all this attention.

Having a wonderful relationship with my mother-in-law is a treasure for me. She's a vibrant, wonderful lady, and I cherish this special 80th birthday time we are having with her.

Happy Birthday, Mamasan, and I wish you many more!

Much love to you,

Colleen

PICTURES ARE WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS!

Yesterday, I had a lovely lunch with my dear friend and former Dissertation Chair Dr. Barbara Holmes. Even after 5 years since my Doctorate was completed, we still meet a few times each year to catch up with each other. Emails often go back and forth in between our meetings – supporting our exercise programs, requesting help on where to find a certain pomegranate tea or asking advice on a scholarly question. It is always a pleasure to hear from her and to see her.

As we ended our lunch yesterday, I said to Dr. Holmes, “Ok, get out your camera, and take pictures!” To my surprise, she did NOT have her camera in her purse, AND she had PURPOSEFULLY REMOVED IT!

Here’s the deal about the camera. As my cohort of dissertation buddies worked through our “awesome” steps of dissertation, Dr. Holmes continuously asked if anyone had a camera and could take pictures to document our progress. So, at the end of that journey, I gave Dr. Holmes her very own camera. I anticipated that she would like it, but I had no idea that the world would know that she has her own camera and that she would take pictures of me every time she saw me. She would then make them into greeting cards and send them to MY closest Wal-Mart for me to pick up. It was definitely a "Dr. Holmes signature act!"

However, somewhere along the way, I inadvertently mentioned that she shouldn’t bother to send every picture to me in sets of 12 greeting cards, just to email them to me. WRONG! VERY BAD IDEA! Yesterday, we cleared up this little disconnect, and many of you will be surprised when you start getting greeting cards (with my picture on them) on a regular basis. I LOVE THIS IDEA, and I told her that my 1-½ year old grandson has my last greeting card picture on his refrigerator door. As he eats his meals or passes by, he tells me about his day and says, “Hi, Nonna!” What a treasured gift!

So, now that THAT relationship is mended, and we are on our way to picture-taking bliss again, I want to thank Dr. Holmes for accepting my apology and reminding me that PICTURES ARE WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS! I will smile every time I look at those picture greeting cards!

With love, Colleen

P.S. You have to know that when I learned that Dr. Holmes didn’t have her camera, I suggested she might need a new one by now. “Oh, no! That one lost it’s screws recently, and I have found a great place that can fix it...only 35 miles away! It took me too long to learn how to use this one to get a new one now! I'm still using this camera to document the dissertation process of my current students! It's working just fine!” replied my cherished friend.

THE TERRAZZA LAW

In The New Italians, Charles Richards reports about an Italian journalist Beppe Severgnini, who explains

 why Italians are so different from the English.

First, he says, you must ‘learn the Terrazza Law. Italians always seem to be on the point of blowing their tops, but never do. We like our country (the weather, the towns, the food, the wine, the charming people) as much as foreigners do. We may have had a lousy day. We may have been told that we are going to have to pay more taxes because someone in government has made off with another few billion lire. But in the evening we can have a meal al fresco with our friends, maybe on a terrazza under a clear sky; and our bitterness evaporates. This is the Terrazza Law.’

Here we are back at relationships again! The Italians have figured out that taking a daily break for relaxation and camaraderie with family and good friends is the perfect deterrent to becoming overwhelmed with the hardships of life.

Hmmm! Sounds like it works well and is lots of fun. I think I’ll try it. How about you?