A visit from "The Motherland"

JanFeb2010026, originally uploaded by James Hemsley.

My mom's brother, Marco, and his wife, Raffaella, came to visit MI for about 10 days in February. The Family Band went up to see them, since the last time we had seen them was in 2001, before James and I were married. It was great to see them both. My Italian is rusty at best, but I got by.

We went swimming at the YMCA with them several times (they purchased a week-long membership for their time here) and we had meals and lots of talks. Norah was scared of them at first, probably because my uncle is a little loud, and they don't speak English. They would say something to her in Italian, and she would just look at them and say, "No." That is what she does to me when I try to speak Italian to her! Anyway, by the end of the visit, she was giving hugs and talking to them and swimming with them quite comfortably.

I am glad we were able to go see them, and hopefully, it won't be another 8 years before we see them again!