Alive and nit-picking

Well! Long time no see.. Where have you all been???

Me?
I've been to Italy.
Yep.
And the weirdest thing? I loved it.

Yes, I spent almost a month and a half in Italy due to a medical emergency involving my father. Things with him resolved in a smooth and, all in all, quick manner (thanks for all the prayers said on his - and my - behalf), so I was able to enjoy my visit there. Something I have not been able to do for the last 4 years. In fact it was almost 4 years ago to the date that I had my last good visit in Italy and I've been there twice since (three times if you include the one a couple of months ago).
During this last visit I've rediscovered.. well.. it seems a bunch of things, and not all of them are all clear in my mind yet. I guess the main thing is that I have rediscovered myself or at least part of myself I thought was lost. And I have rediscovered the joy of just living without too much thinking.. just plain living. I am reading "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" and there is something in there that made a whole lot of sense to me. Here it is:
"When analytic thought, the knife, is applied to experience, something is always killed in the process".
I think I found out that I've been overanalyzing, overthinking and overjudging my experiences, therefore I've killed the life in them. And now it is time to put that knife back in the drawer. No more killing, just living. Not to say that I'll quit thinking altogether (I know, I know, some of you are already wondering when did I ever start..), but I definitely want to be a little more relaxed about myself. God forgive me if that's wrong.
And I have rediscovered the love Italians can give so freely. In a time of real need, everybody has been so great and so helpful that I felt extremely humbled.
Because of this visit, I have reconnected with old friends, and with other old friends through them (Ciao Rick, if you're reading! :) ). And I've reconnected with family that I had not talked to in years. It was such a blessing! Through those relatives I have also reconnected with my mom. They told me stories I didn't know about her and her life when I was little and even though not all of them were necessarily edifying, it was good to talk about her. She's been gone for almost 20 years now, and my dad has very little recollection of things happened 30 or 35 years ago. Or maybe he just has selective memory, since he repeats the same stories over and over again.
What a waste of time all these years that I was too busy, too lazy or too much in America to connect with my relatives in Italy! I beg you, don't let that happen to you. If you can at all, get in touch with people you've not heard in a long time. Unless there was a serious break between you, and that remains unresolved for whatever reason, I can almost guarantee you'll be blessed.
I have also to thank all the friends here who took good care of my husband, prayed and helped in many other ways. That was a not-so-unexpected blessing. "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another", John 13.35.

I realize how important friendships are. We are not created to be alone. A lot of times I felt guilty and somewhat "accused" (uhm.. what was that name that Satan was called?..) of not relying on God enough or not having enough faith if I craved human friendships. I know that there is no friend like Jesus, but even He didn't create us to be in relationship just with Him. Why did Adam feel alone? Was God not enough for him? And why did God not get mad at this apparent ungratefulness shown by His perfect creation? He (God) could have said: "What am I? Chopped liver?"

"A friend loves at all times..." "L'amico ama in ogni tempo; e' nato per essere un fratello nella sventura" Prov. 17:17
" .. but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother" "..ma c'e' un amico che e' piu' affezionato di un fratello" Prov. 18:24

Time to go. Got to do some nit-picking ("He who has ears to hear, let him hear")

Goodnight. Buonanotte. Lakunoc'.


OH! One last thing: Italy won the soccer World Championship!!!! and I fell in love with Grosso and Gattuso!

>>some retroactive links posted here on October 1st, 2006:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U59IW2aZZ5g (Italia-Francia rigori, Sky)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVzDyay_YnI (Italia-Francia rigori, Rai 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5reztLBMxoI (Campioni del Mondo 2006)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dcyl-4l9es (Campioni del Mondo 2006, II)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7_2qI-VQYM (mitici Grosso e Del Piero -- Italia-Germania)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RePQCBn8BRY (I couldn't resist.. Zidane)