something amazing

i am home now.

doing my best to unpack & acclimate.

what a wonderful trip we had.

our trip was full of

"too good to be true" moments.

seeing with our own eyes so many

wonders of the world.

these things, i'll share here in time.

today, though, i want to share with you

the singular most amazing thing that happened.

the thing that brought me to my knees.

on sunday, june 23, the day of missy's celebration,

i knew i wanted to do something special.

i had plans to sit in a cafe and drink a toast

to my very favorite friend.

i waited to see how the day unfolded.

the post i had scheduled for the day

was not yet live, as i was 8 hours ahead.

it was full of the most special songs for her.

we were given a bit of free time in the morning,

with instructions to meet back at 11:55.

i headed out with marian & ally,

where we found handmade jewelry,

tiny stovetop italian espresso makers,

and the kindest roman people.

we were a few minutes late,

rushing back to our meeting place right at 12,

when i was stopped in my tracks

by yet another song.

all through europe, we were hearing the songs that i had

posted for missy here on my blog - coincidence?  no.

straining to listen though the noonday bells,

it hit me that this song was one

i had slated to play on this very day.

it was all i could do to stay on my feet

and to hold my camera still.

i stood there crying and videotaping,

feeling wave upon wave of raw emotion.

the boisterous church bells gonging at full-tilt,

missy wanted to make sure i didn't miss this.

she was there.

she was flooding me with her presence.

she is happy.

she sends her boundless love.

and i believe she knew

i would capture it to share with you.

when the song was over,

on shaky legs, i stepped closer

to drop some euros

into the musician's guitar case.

he could see i was crying,

and asked if his song had touched me.

i said, "you have no idea."

i told him why it meant so much.

he hugged me & gave me one of his cd's.

such a sweet man.

his name is vincent.

if you feel inspired to send him a note,

you can email him at

supervincenzo51@libero.it

here's the song i had posted for that day

afterward, we headed to a cafe,

a stone's throw from the pantheon,

where i drank a toast to her,

including all of you, dear friends,

who were sitting there,

with me & marian, with missy, with all of us,

in an outdoor cafe
on this most special day in rome.

salute, missy!
i love you!

♥