Wednesday night is soccer night — which means dinner is prepared in a hurry, so anyone going can get out the door 20 minutes after we all get home. I stuck a frozen thin crust pizza in the oven, ‘quattro formaggi’, cut up some strawberries, picked some grapes from the stem, and left out a box of field green & herb salad.
The boys sat down to eat, and I grabbed a slice of pizza. I suddenly had the idea to put some of the salad leaves on top of my pizza. I sat down, took a bite, and my time machine took me back to 2001.
July 18, 2001. My birthday. And I was crabby that it was my birthday and no one seemed to care (sometimes, I’m sulky and it’s stupid, I know). And it was really stinking hot. But? It was also Jean and Michelle’s wedding day. We were in Rome, Italy. We had come on this trip, the three of us, with the intention of getting these lovely people married in Rome. There had been problems getting the marriage license. There had been delays from their original planned wedding date as there was a minimum residency requirement. But today? They were getting married. For real.
Their Catholic priest back home in Northern Ontario had a connection to an American priest in Rome. I think I vaguely remember there had been a quick phone conversation to confirm that he would perform the ceremony. We had ideas of a what a Catholic church wedding in Rome would be like – particularly after sight seeing on foot the previous few days, including a trip to St. Peter’s Basilica. I am not a Catholic. There is no god in my life. But visiting the Vatican just bowled me over.
Anyway; we found the church. And it was incredibly unlike St. Peter’s. It was kind of retro, maybe built in the 60′s. But here was the priest – a lovely, friendly man, whose American English was delicious after days of thick Italian blundering (by us).
I can’t remember everything about that day. I know I wore an unflattering long pale green dress I’d never wear today. I know that Jean and Michelle were so happy, and I had a tear in my eye. I know there was a funny old Italian man as a witness, besides me.
What I mostly remember is the priest taking us out for a meal afterwards. We went to a restaurant we never would have experienced: a small family-run place, nondescript. I was just guessing at what was on the menu, my Italian lacking. I ended up with a cheese pizza with rocket/arugula on top, and it felt like the best meal I had ever eaten. I can taste it now. I tasted it tonight, when I sort of recreated it. Almost. I was almost there.
We were invited back to the monastery to stay (I NEVER imagined I would end up sleeping at a monastery in my entire life) and it felt like the best sleep ever. After days of camping and hosteling on the cheap (the cheapest you could imagine), the newly married couple had their privacy, and so did I. A comfortable bed and a luxurious shower. And breakfast in the morning. It really was amazing.
The kids brought me back down to earth, with one squawking at the other, after I spent a few minutes back in Rome. It was nice to go back, almost exactly 9 years later. I know I’ll go back again for real one day. Maybe even with my good, still-married friends – if they’ll let me crash their second honeymoon like I did their first.
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Speaking of food, there’s a review and giveaway on that other blog over there right now, for underWAY supplement drinks that claim to curb hunger. You can see what I think about them, and you can ask to try them, too, if you leave a comment, all you Canadians.
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July 21st 2010 at 10:34 pm
I totally missed your birthday… this is why you should never take time away from FB!! Although all day on Sunday I had this nagging feeling I was forgetting something.
Anyhooo happy (belated) birthday. Way to be born!
and jeez I totally forgot about Jean and Michelle, so glad to hear that they are still happily married.
we have got to catch up one of these days dude
January 27th 2011 at 11:27 pm
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