Ti Voglio Bene!

“So much of me is made from what I learned from you. 

You’ll be with me, like a handprint on my heart.”

It’s true what they say -  friends come and go, but true friends will always be with you, no matter the distance that separates you. I truly believe there is nothing on this earth more prized then true friendship. My heart is warmed by the thought of the beautiful people I have in my life. My friends who can keep me smiling from dusk to dawn and who I care about with all my being.

This weekend I celebrated my 23rd birthday in Italy. The second year I’ve been away from my home, celebrating in a completely different world. But for the second year in a row, I was blessed with the company of amazing people. 

Thursday evening, Francesca, Vincenzo and Bea surprised me with a dinner in Rome. I was completely taken a back. Dinner in Rome, eating, drinking and enjoying each other’s company. I missed my family back home, but they made me feel so welcome - they filled a void in my heart.

This weekend, I returned to a place that stole my heart the moment I stepped off the train last June. I returned to Reggio Calabria to celebrate and visit friends of mine who have remained so close to me! 

I can’t find the words to express the joy I felt being surrounded by people I care about and who truly care about me. It was a little slice of heaven visiting Reggio...Sottozero for breakfast with Andrea, visiting two of my favorite beaches, Scilla and Anna, sharing an enormous gelato with Saso, taking a walk on the marina with Angela and company, dancing on the beach at the disco and jumping in the water in my birthday dress with Andrea and Dario. The moments are captured in my heart and mind, and of course, the pictures help too.

I hated hoping on the train in Reggio Sunday night, looking at all of my friends waving goodbye. There was something special about them walking us to the train, a type of gesture that was so small, but meant so much - a type of love you experience when you truly have formed friendships that will last a lifetime.

There’s that famouns Blink-182 song with the line ‘...Nobody loves you when you’re 23...” - maybe I’m not in love, and won’t find love this year, but, I can say with complete confidence that I will be loved at 23, and my friends proved that to this weekend.  Ti Voglio Bene

<3