Un Caro Cugino
A special treat awaited me when I returned to Italy last week. David, a dear cousin, and his wife Deb, took the train from Rome to Florence to spend a day with me. It was a whirlwind visit filled with warm affection, shared memories and of course good food and wine!
David and I are doubly related on our mother’s side. David’s maternal grandmother was the niece of my maternal grandmother and our maternal grandfathers were uncle (mine) and nephew. In fact, our grandfathers emigrated together from the tiny village of Macchione in Abruzzo. Growing up, our mothers and aunts were best friends, as cousins often were in the tight Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn where our grandparents settled.
My fondest childhood memories, as are those of my sisters and cousins, were summers spent in our grandparent’s “country house” in Babylon on Long Island. David, his brother Richie, and their parents lived next door to our grandparents’ house. Memories of those endless summer days of chilhood are fille with lanquid afternoons splashing in David’s pool, hiking to “Beaver Dam” behind Uncle Dom, and listening to “Uncle Al”, David’s dad, play the guitar while we sang along after a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs at the long table, really just plywood over saw horses covered with oil cloth, in the detached garage.
After my grandparents died, their “country” house was sold and we all grew up. Decades passed before David and I caught up again. At a family reunion a few years ago we chatted and I learned we shared a love of Italy and that he and Deb traveled to Italy often.
And so, now in our 70’s we were blessed with this chance to share time together in this land of our forefathers (and foremothers)! We started our visit with a delicious lunch at Trattoria Il Contadino, one of David and Deb’s hidden Florentice gems. David generously shares his invaluable compendium of favorite restaurants and bars vetted from their travels throughout Italy and I could see why this spot made his list- an authentic, local gem, off the tourist track.
The most precious part of our brief twenty four hours together was reconnecting with David over stories about our family and a chance to get to know Deb, while we filled in the five decades since we’d last had any regular contact.
From the start, the visit felt easy and comfortable. David and Deb are genuine, considerate, warm, witty and bright- all qualities that make them wonderful company and appreciated houseguests. I learned that David is a brilliant archivist and family historian with a seemingly endless catalogue of old photos and videos. Deb’s long association with the family means she is privy to all the family lore and able to add her own perspective. I was so impressed with David’s language skills, the result of his studious dedication over decades of studying Italian. He was a good teacher and role model for this fledgling student.
Too soon they were on a train to visit another friend outside Florence! Now that we made this connection, we vowed to stay in touch- here and in the US!
David and Deb outside Il Contadina in Florence