Magical Memories

Katie  turned 50 last year. Most of her life has been about hard work, long hours as a restaurant manager. A job that she got stuck in and hated , but paid the bills and provided for her two sons. Her husband  has also worked hard at factories, odd shifts and holidays. Her husband doesn’t like getting out much. He hates crowds and whenever they’ve taken vacations it’s usually nearby, or a few days at a beach. Always an unpleasant drive to wherever, because of navigation. For the most part, Katie has spent most of her life working and then going home to cook, or clean or just sit around watching t.v. or other mundane tasks. There had been about four exciting trips in her life where she actually got to get out of the bubble of mundane and experience surreal moments. About five years ago Katie had to unexpectedly have brain surgery and was stuck in the hospital for 4 weeks and off from work for 12 weeks. When she went back to work, she couldn’t cope with all the stress and started having severe anxiety attacks. So Katie finally got out of a job she hated and started working for her brother’s business. Last year Katie’s youngest sister Sabrina decided she was going to take a trip to Italy for her 40th and asked her to come along for the ride for her 50th. So she figured out a way to make it happen. That taste of Europe is just what the two of them needed. It was the most magical ride of their lives. Before they had even gotten on the plane to leave Italy behind they had already planned a trip for the next year to visit London and France. Now that this pandemic has entered our world, people stuck at home all Katie can do is worry and try her best to make a new normal. Luckily Katie, her husband and her two young adult sons are all considered essential. Some of us are so essential we are working more hours, so one thing less to worry about. Katie starts by texting all her family and friends ensuring everyone is doing okay. Making sure the family that's close by is good on supplies. Making sure her sister is keeping her sanity with three young boys. Joining her brother that’s in D.C. on Saturday’s to play Jack Box games on Zoom with some other family members. Katie and her family continue to take weekend hikes, she gets out old board games to play, she orders Hunt a Killer by mail, she orders Hello Fresh. She gets pick up grocery orders, she eats, she runs out of t.v. to watch, she becomes hooked on tik tok videos. She tries to keep the boredom at bay. One Saturday afternoon everyone is working and Katie is done cleaning house and has exhausted all of the Tiger King. She pulls out her poems she wrote about Italy. Reads them and is happy and content , some of them only having meaning to her and Sabrina

Walking the cobbled streets of Rome

So far away from home

Beautiful sunny weather

Does not match the city architecture

Interpreting the beautiful works of art

Touring the crowded Vatican scene

Surrounded by history in a state of euphoria

Or was it a gelato induced dysphoria that had us lost in the city streets

Unable to retreat from the tunnel that we meet

Bella and her madre, searching the shops for one size fits skinny, a light taste and a McDonalds

A toilet with a seat, an Italian feast

A glass of wine and plenty of time to dine

Laughing till we cried (or pee’d our pants)

Walking till our feet died ( or we bought ice packs)

A beautiful, magical gondola ride

Wouldn’t want anyone but my sister by my side

Beautiful streets of Venice

A once in a lifetime trip that I will never forget

Dolce vita sorella

40+50 =90

To walking the cobbled streets of Rome

To being so far from home

To reading maps upside down

To speaking Italian like a clown

To perfecting our modeling shoots

To passing by all the loots

To toilets without seats

To real Italian feast

To dining outside

To drinking wine

To walking 30,000 steps

To stepping out of our depth

To swollen feet

To tightened cheeks

To all the jokes

To our famous quotes

To all the people we met

To a trip we’ll never forget

After reading through her poems, Katie gets out the picture scrapbook that Sabrina gave her from their trip. When Katie opens the book and starts going through the pictures, she starts daydreaming about it and wondering if they’ll even be able to take their next trip. After coming out of her daze, Katie looks back down at the book and a portal has opened and Katie jumps right in. Next thing she knows she’s at the Trevi fountain. Katie looks around and sees herself and Sabrina tossing in their coins ( It means they will return to the Eternal City). Katie can’t believe her eyes, she is in Italy again and seems somehow to have traveled to the past. Katie only knows what she has seen on science fiction shows and seems to think she can’t be seen by herself or else that will simultaneously combust. Katie secretly follows herself and Sabrina everywhere they go. She is experiencing the smells, the taste, the sights, sounds and culture all over again. She never wants to leave this moment. It’s impossible to imagine, but it’s like she’s experiencing it all for the first time again. The morning she walked the streets of Venice waiting for Sabrina to finish getting ready and hearing Italian men singing in a cafe while they were working at fixing breakfast. The gondola ride, the Colosseum, the shopping, the talking, the wine, the caprese, the gelato,the Spanish Steps and posing like models,the Borghese gallery and our art interpretations, the Piazza Navona and people watching to our hearts content. Suddenly Katies back home and her youngest son has come home and closed the open book and is shocked by the whirlwind appearance of his Mom. Katie tries to get back again and again , but the portal is closed.