"In the family, happiness is in the ratio in which each is serving the others, 

seeking one another's good, and bearing one another's burdens."

Henry Ward Beecher

La mia famiglia italiana. (My Italian Family), are a remarkable group of individuals who I miss deeply because of the 5127 air miles, a vast ocean, and a continent that separates us. Over the years airline travel has become increasingly more expensive, and with my income dwindling I have had to be even more creative, to be able to have enough funds to purchase a ticket to be in their company. The sacrifice is worth the effort, for when I inhale my very first breath of hot, humid Sicilian air at Catania’s Fontanarossa Airport; I know I am close the home from where my roots were sown.

Last month I experienced how true the quote is that I began my blog with. I witnessed the kindness and compassion of my first cousins, Teresa and Tino, plus their spouses and children as they took care of their dying mother, my Zia Antonietta, who was bedridden in a hospital in Messina. As I held her hand and told her how much I loved her, the thoughts of all of her kindness throughout all the years came rushing back that filled me with sadness and joy. On my final visit I lingered as long as I could at her hospital door, not wanting to leave, because I knew that this would be the last time I would see her alive. September 10^th she peacefully passed away in the early morning hours.

In the past 18 months 3 of the 6 daughters my grandparents had three are now gone; beginning with my mother, in April I lost My Zia Lauretta and ending with my Zia Antonietta. Plus, my godmother Rosina left us a year ago today.

I will always remember their kindness, respect and generosity they shared with me on my many visits to one of the most beautiful islands in the Mediterranean Sea.

The top photo is of my Zia Antonietta and Zio Alfredo's family. Below is my Zia Lauretta.

Trip from July 22, 2006 until August 16, 2006.
Kyle, Lauren and Santa  Mi Manchi... Trip from July 22, 2006 until August 16, 2006.
Kyle, Lauren and Santa

© 2006 Santa Fabio All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction rights granted.

Taken with Nikon equipment