Tuesday, October 16, 2012 is a fabulous day in my life. It is the day one of my major dreams came true – to see some of the world’s greatest art in Florence Italy.
Flash back more than 40 years…
World history class as a senior in high school.
Bored me to tears. I could never remember enough to ace a test as I simply didn’t care much about it. Until we studied the Renaissance.
I was mesmerized. Couldn’t get enough. Got a 100% on that test.
But the whole concept was so unreal. Everything so old and far away. Just pictures in a book of another time and place. Italy was a foreign world. A world I never entertained the thought of seeing. It was not even within my realm of imagination.
Years later I actually made it to Europe – but only because a friend took over and made the arrangements. And we got last-minute deals that were affordable. Still, we didn’t go to Italy. And I decided I didn’t want to go there on a whirlwind trip because it would be like eating one bite of dessert – never enough.
But today…
Today the dream has come true. I’ve never seen anything like Florence. Piazzas filled with marble statues that take your breath away. And so many of them that it is like finding diamonds on the ground. Such a wealth of history and culture and art. There’s no way to describe it. You must see it and feel it for yourself.
And as I circled Michelangelo’s David to take photos and looked around at the other sculptures… and the crowds in the square… and heard the music wafting in the air… I felt my throat begin to tighten. Then the tears welled up and I had to step off to the side to let the emotion just come through. MB walked up behind and handed me a tissue and walked away again. It was all I could do not to sob.
I really don’t have the words to say what this all means to me. And I just want to thank my friends and family who made sure I got here (you know who you are). These people were not even in my life all those years ago when the dream began but they have made it happen. Mille grazie, mi amici. Mille grazie.
