I’ll Be Living My Dream (Italy

I’l be Living My Dream

By Christine Cutler

Pettorano sul Gizio, Abruzzo, Italy

The last 14-15 months have been hard on all of us. Dealing with the severe limitations the pandemic unleashed on the world has been difficult for everyone. We sat in our homes, barely going farther than our local grocery or pharmacy. Meetings and classes were virtual. Work was mostly remote. Hugs were non-existent.

The Promise

As I write this, the world is starting to open up. Vaccines have helped us feel safer, and many of us are hoping we can make plans to travel the world again. Of course, not everyone feels that way, and that’s okay.

"Don't get between the plane door and me when Italy opens up to Americans," I always reply when one of my friends asks me when I plan to go to Italy next. They all know I had some additional health problems last year, and knowing I would eventually get back to Italy kept me going during the months of treatments. Those treatments that saved my life also made me realize that there is going to be a time when I’m not able to do everything I want to do. Whether it is age or some physical problem, something may put the brakes on my ability to live the way I want.

When I was having treatments last year, my husband promised me that we would go to Italy when we could. I knew that he was not only talking about my health but also the pandemic. As the year dragged on and overseas travel remained closed, I could tell he was itching to go, too. Friends would ask the same, “When are you going to Italy next?” Instead of waiting for me to answer, he’d say, “As soon as we can.”

The Situation

Since taking office in February, Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi has pushed hard for vaccine reform in Europe and Italy. He is caught between Italy's warring political parties, one side which has wanted to lift restrictions and open the country for months and the other side which prefers to take a

more cautious approach. In early May, Draghi opened Italy to tourism from other European countries, and as of May 16, he opened it to Americans who meet certain requirements.

I have made reservations for us to fly to Rome mid-June. The situation and regulations are changing constantly, so who knows what we are going to face before and after we leave. All I know is that we are going to Italy.

The Dream

In 2008, I started writing about my grandparents who were born in Abruzzo. Located about 90 kilometers east of Rome, Pettorano sul Gizio (photo on previous page) is a small hill town with about 1200 residents today. I’ve visited the town almost annually since 2010, but I have always stayed in Sulmona, the larger town about 10 minutes away.

On my first visit to the town, I found the house where my grandfather grew up. Still in the family, the house is more than 200 years old. At the time we discovered the house, my late cousin’s wife, Rosa, was still living in it, and she introduced me to other relatives who still live in town. Since Rosa’s passing, I’ve continued to go to the town, but I haven’t spent the time I want spend there. Usually, we drive in for an hour or so and then head somewhere else.

I have always wanted to spend time in the town…to sit in the small piazza near there and listen to the river water run from the old fountain…to watch the sun rise over one hill and depart over another…to wander aimlessly up and down the stairs that connect the narrow streets…to roam through the old streets…to experience life in the place my grandparents left behind but never forgot.

Mid-June will be the perfect time to fulfill that dream.

Photos from top: A street in Pettorano sul Gizio; Stairs leading from one street to another; My grandfather’s house; The Valle Margherita, looking west from Piazza Zanelli