Friends

Today was predetermined to be a day of rest and visiting. It was a good thing as it rained nearly the entire day.

After breakfast, Vito came to visit with us at the hotel for a while and we went to his apartment for a while. It was good to just relax, sit, and talk after the many days we had on our feet for the past week-and-a-half.

After lunch, we went back to the hotel and waited for Nicola to come to pick us up. He took us to visit with his nonna (grandmother) who had a spacious apartment in Gaeta that was lavishly furnished. The floors were made of marble and the living room was filled with books. Nicola told us that his grandfather and grandmother were both authors that had written several books about Gaeta between the two of them.

She was a small, frail woman that reminded me of my grandmother – she had spunk. She spoke not a word of English, so Nicola translated for us. She seemed genuinely pleased to meet us.

Nicola asked her to read from one of her books for us in Italian; not just Italian, but in the Gaetano dialect of Italian. She read to us from a book in the kitchen at her table for about fifteen minutes and offered us some dolce which we kindly accepted.

When we bid her goodbye, Nicola took us to his parent’s apartment where he also lived. They also had a lavish apartment that was well furnished, but again they did not speak English. However, you could tell, just as you could with his nonna, that they were genuinely nice people. They also offered us some dolce and a small glass of wine.

Nicola showed us around the apartment and was proud of two things in his room. He was proud of his collection of the license plates from all over the world that he displays on the wall. The one thing I was most impressed with was the landscape of the city of Gaeta in a framed picture. I promised myself that when I returned home and had to change my license plate (which was my intent) that I would send Nicola my old one to display on his wall.

Meeting Nicola and his family was a treat. Having friendships in a faraway land like Italy is a special feeling for me, and having nice friends who treat you good is even better. I can honestly say that the Tarallo family is special to me. Following our stay there, Nicola took us back through the pouring down rain to our hotel.

We called Vito to come to pick us up to take us to our next stop – celebrating the thirteenth birthday of the son of Erasmo DiPerna. Vito was there to pick us up within about thirty minutes and we left in the pouring rain.

Arriving at Erasmo’s, we learned that we were going to have to walk up four flights of steps since there was no elevator in the building after walking through the rain in the parking lot.

Erasmo was kind and welcoming as we went into their apartment. We greeted his wife, Marisina Stefanelli, Giò, and the birthday boy, Gabrielle. They were all very kind, but the only one who could speak to us was Erasmo.

We visited with all of the family for about an hour. Giò had his guitar and was strumming lightly on it and tuning it for the entire time. He was designated to play happy birthday song for us when it was time to sing to Gabrielle and wanted to be right in tune.

The time came for the celebration. With candles on the cake, we sang “Tanti auguri a tè” to the shy, happy younger son, Gabrielle. There were other dolce snacks for us in addition to the cake. Erasmo poured each of us a shot glass of Meloncello, a cantaloupe flavored vodka that was exceptionally delicious.

After the celebration, we walked out onto the balcony to witness the view of the sea they had from up high over the newer part of the city. The view was something that I could get used to every day if I lived there.

But the surprise of the early evening was when Erasmo gave Mark and I each a bottle of wine. But not just any wine, but some of the most expensive Italian wine (Montepulciano) you can get in the United States. I was surprised and honored to get this gift from someone I just met and apparently my expression must have surprised him because he explained that he could tell we were good people, we were family with Vito, and he wanted us to be good friends of him and his family.

The hospitality of this family was overwhelming and very emotional for me. I had made so many good friends on this trip in the land where my family originated. The Italian culture is may have its faults, but we were not exposed to anything but the very best on this trip and I am grateful for all the good friends that I have made, especially those in this family.

It was sad that we had to leave, but we had one more stop. So after taking some photographs to remember the occasion, we bid out goodbyes to our friends and descended to the rainy parking lot where it was not dark to go for our next visit. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks! Tonight was our last night in Gaeta.

Our next stop was at Wilma’s parent’s house again for a goodbye dinner. They wanted to have us over for one last visit with all of them – Erasmo, Marissa, Jessica, Anthony, Vito, Wilma, and Giulia. It was an emotional visit, but there was also some excitement that we would not expect to come out of it.

We ascended to their apartment and were treated to a buffet of finger foods – meats, sweets, vegetables, wine, and more. The television near their dining room was on and quickly became the center of focus for everyone, including Mark and me. A new Pope had been selected in a weeklong conclave that had been going on at the Vatican in Rome. Waiting to see who the new Pope would be and what name he would choose had the attention of everyone. Finally, Papa Francesco (Pope Francis) was announced to the world. This was exciting to be here in Italy for this occasion and to know that in two days we would be at the Vatican where this history was being made.

After the excitement started to subside a bit, there was time for us to say our goodbyes. It seemed that each of us had a speech to make. Mark was very emotional making his comments. And I was emotional, but held it is as well as I could. They gave us gifts, souvenirs of Gaeta, to remember them by. They even sent a gift home with me for Susan. Erasmo wanted Vito to translate every word we said.

The evening would not be complete without photos. We laughed harder than I ever had in my life when we had to put Marissa on a stool to be taller in the photograph. No English need to be translated, and no Italian needed to be translated for anyone. The laughter transcended the language barrier for all.

We hugged them with tears in our eyes as we said our goodbyes knowing it would be a long time before we saw them again. It was a sad moment for me. As much as I wanted to get home to my wife, I hated leaving all these good people I had met. We left and the rain was still coming down. It was as if Italy was crying for us.

Vito took us back to the hotel and as we said goodnight to him, he reminded us that he and Massimo would be by in the morning to pick us up to take us back to Rome where we would spend the next two days before coming back to America. The excitement of going to Rome would be the only thing that would be good about this night as we fell asleep.