Guess what… The fam is in the Flo! I repeat, the fam is finally in the Flo! Watch out world, the Olsons are back at it - and in a foreign country, might I add. Let chaos ensue...
Mama Carolyn, Papa Jeff, Callie, and my nana all arrived in Florence Saturday afternoon. I had their itineraries so I decided to surprise them by showing up at their apartment to greet them when they arrived. Upon our reunion, I was immediately embraced and my spirits were lifted. I don't usually get home sick, but something about this whole experience has made me miss home and my family more than I ever have, so seeing them all for the first time after three months was a dream.
However, the dream only lasted so long. After less than an hour of being together, I found myself thinking of the mantra, "can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em." I really did miss my family, but I guess I just missed the more pleasant characteristics of them; my rose colored glasses really altered my feelings and made me forget about the fact that they are indeed humans, have flaws, and really stress me out.
After having trouble getting into the apartment, struggling to communicate in Italian to the neighbors, and getting worked up about every little thing, we finally made our way to dinner. Gusta Pizza did a little to help calm down my family's exhaustion, hunger, and thirst prodded mood swings, but even on our way to gelato, tensions were a bit high and - as bad as this sounds - I found myself wondering why I was so excited to see them.
As we were walking quietly through the streets, I turn around and look back and my mom was stopped in her tracks a few yards back. Annoyed, my sister asked my dad what was going on and why she stopped. My dad just shushed us and told us to let her be.
Unbeknownst to us, the street musicians were playing the Andrea Bocelli song that my grandpa (my mom's dad, my nana's husband) died to. Right when my dad told us that, I got the chills and started to tear up. We all just stopped for a second and listened to the music. In that moment, not only did I feel my grandpa smiling down on us, but I also just felt God's presence - I don't really know how to explain it. A calm fell over us all and everything felt so peaceful.
I didn't get the chance to know my grandpa all that well because he died when I was fairly young, but the one thing that I do remember about him is that he loved everyone and always wanted everyone to be happy and get along. He was always the one to break the ice and make people smile even when they were mad. He truly was a remarkable person - everyone could agree on that.
At that moment, I stopped in my tracks and just thanked God for everything: for my life, for my family, for this experience - everything. In that second, I knew that it didn't matter what was going on. God had everything under control, brought us together as a family, and He just wanted us to love on each other and live. Just like God, my grandfather loved everyone despite their flaws and shortcomings and was always thankful for everyones company. Traveling and being with anyone - let alone your family - for such a long period of time can cause a roller coaster of emotions, so I guess God - and Gramps - just wanted to remind us what really matters. God is so good.
Moral of the story: Everyone is flawed, but worthy of love. Life is not perfect and neither are we. We are to find the beauty in the flaws and love despite life's imperfections.
Just something to think about…
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| Sending you love from my flawed family to yours! |
Sincerely yours,
Just Another Original
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