The Fun Quotient... of the heel-clicking variety

I'm home almost 4 days from Rome now, and still having a little trouble finding time to update the blog with news of my travels. There will be a podcast, and a blogpost soon, and there will be pictures, I promise. I've been sidelined with a sinus and bronchial condition upon coming home, then had the pleasure of house guests -- dear friends who visited us after a visit to their son in a New England college. Now, today, my daughter returns from her studies abroad... we must prepare! I'm so grateful for all of these real blessings in life, even more so as I pray for those people in the US who have suffered grave losses in the face of aftermath of the recent tornadoes and thunderstorms that have swept our country.  


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My oldest son, Bobby, will be 24 this summer. Immediately after graduation from St. Bonaventure University, he moved to New York to take a job in a public relations firm. Needless, he never really came home from college after graduation and the real goodbye of a parent to a grown up child took place...(you know its coming someday, but you just can't always predict when it will happen.) Deep down, I knew that he was ready to launch.  Since graduation last May, Bobby has been steadily working. So when we approached him with the idea of his joining us in Rome, he jumped at the chance to come.

So our time in Rome was not only one of pilgrimage, but also one of family reunion and bonding. And the opportunity to say "hello" again to one of my favorite people for 10 days straight. I reveled in the easy smile that comes to this young man's lips. And I realized just how much I've really missed him.

Bobby & me - Outside of St. Peter's Basilica, Rome.

Bobby's exuberance at being in Rome matched my own, yet his joyful self-expression of it out loud, is something I could only do in my heart. (I don't think I've ever jumped up and managed clicked my heels, but these photos really capture a few of our favorite moments along the way on this trip.)  Here is my 6'-4'' son at a few of the famous places we visited.

In St. Peter's Square in Rome

On the Roof of St. Peter's Basilica

At the Colosseum

Next to a Bernini fountain in Piazza Navona at night

I'll be back to post more soon!