Gratitude

Gratitude for the People in My Life

I decided to create this travel blog for a couple of reasons, the main one of which is to keep in touch with people and to avoid feeling lonely when I am traveling. I am currently without a partner, without "my person" to tell each day's stories too. This blog is my way of making up for that--I'm telling my stories to all of you.

But in getting to this point, I had help from a number of wonderful people and I want to thank them for that help.

My lovely daughter-in-law, Tina, told me that she understood how I might be concerned about not having someone to talk with about each day's adventures, and she offered that I could call her "every night to talk about Florence!" And I believe she meant it--she is that excited about Florence and about my trip. Perhaps more importantly, Tina, along with the rest of her family--Mike, Bobbi, and Wilbur--take great care of the amazing Zoey so that I can go off and not have to worry about my dearest dog.

My Italian teacher, Wally Maria, not only patiently tries to teach me some Italiano, but was also the first person to suggest that I go there alone when I told her that I have an airline ticket to use. Sometimes you just need someone to plant the idea.

My Happy Hour pals, Malinda, Kim, and Ann, along with Ann's sister, Ginsie, were most encouraging that I go solo and enjoy the heck out of this time! Make some new memories!

One of my workout buddies, Diane, suggested two books about the Duomo in Florence that might make my trip more interesting. And boy was she right! I finished the first one in 3 days and now I can't wait to see the Duomo itself. What a fascinating story of how it came to be and all the challenges with large scale construction in the 15th century.

And I have to thank my friend, Erin, an extraordinary marketing person, for her help in getting this blog up and running. It was not as easy as I thought it would be, and I couldn't have done it without her.

Thank you to all the wonderful people in my life for encouraging me and helping me live life to the fullest! By the way, the airline that I had and needed to use was a generous gift from my ex when we split up last year and had to cancel travel plans. So I was able to use the ticket just to get myself here. Yay and thank you for that, ex!

Buon appetito! La Dolce Vita!