la dolce vita
“la dolce vita”
the sweet life in italian.
this photograph is of my sweet grandparents. they hold a very special place in my heart and i love them deeply.
my grandma, the sweet little 5’0 red headed woman, (though you can’t tell in black and white), is one of the most compassionate and thoughtful women you will ever meet. she desires to know about my life, my endeavors, encourages me in my pursuit of faith, school, and travelling, she’s a listening ear, a friend, and loves me so well. she’s one of the first to know about my big changes in life, and the second facetime call when i’m away from home.
my nonno, pictured on the right, is everything you’d imagine an italian grandfather to be. (btw, nonno means grandpa in italian, friends). he’s quite the character, you’ll usually find him drinking a glass of wine, cooking for hours in the kitchen and making quite literally the most incredible pasta sauces you could ever dream of—no, literally, his pasta is straight from the mediterranean. he was born and raised in sorrento, italy, and loves to sing my way by frank sinatra. i can’t make this stuff up.
they met in sorrento; my nonno was a tour guide and my grandma happened to be on his tour. they had some mutual friends or something, and met up at a restaurant— she was from pennsylvania eventually they married and moved to california years later. pretty cool right?
honestly, when i think about my grandparents, their lives make me think about the wonders of life. they share stories of the places they visited; my grandma studied in paris, france, my nonno has toured around europe, places like spain, portugal, and croatia..they’ve seen the world and experienced life at a much slower, more intentional pace.
my grandma has shared stories about what it was like growing up in the 50s, basically explaining dances that make me think of scenes from grease, an era with no cell phones, my nonno tells me stories of his nonno taking away his milk when he was 8 years old and giving him wine, or shares the beauty of knowing over 8 languages simply because you should traveling around europe.
they live in a beautiful house in mission viejo, california, and they care deeply about getting the family together.
i love this life i’m living, it’s sweet in it’s own ways and i’ve gotten my own taste of adventure. but as i grow up and reflect on their lives and the one i’m creating for myself, i hope i can pause, experience, and be present, getting just a little bit closer to “la dolce vita”.
