It's all good

Wonderful thing for Tuesday:  the gentilezza of Signore Breschi.  He is our landlord; his offices are two floors down in our building.  He has received the events of the past few days with the greatest of aplomb.  Had we known all that was involved in this emergency move, we would have gone at it differently; we didn't realize that everything in our apartment needs to belong to the Church, when young elders or sisters live in it.  Initially, with office approval conditional upon price, we asked if we could buy the things we want to take with us, to which he agreed, fixing a price that was more than reasonable.  Then, once we realized that everything else in the apartment would have to be either taken out (including the kitchen cabinets, stove, fridge, etc.) or purchased, we had to go back to him again and ask how he felt about that.  He agreed to make another price list.  We were all a bit abashed by that time, but he was ever the cordial gentleman.  You know this is not the way of "business" anywhere, neither in America nor in Italy; that's what makes it all the more admirable and gratifying.  He is helping to make a difficult situation just a little easier to bear, and a little easier to execute.  Imagine having to clear out the entire kitchen, the huge armoir in the bedroom, the table and chairs, the washing machine...imagine then, the sisters having to interrupt their schedules even more, and turn their lives topsy turvy while obtaining and installing all these things, while still dealing with the emotional drain as well.  No - he's an angel unawares (Hebrews 13:2); as soon as we get our situation settled, and if I can find pineapple (I've already determined that you can make your own cream cheese by draining plain yogurt overnight in cheesecloth), I'm going to make him a Hummingbird Cake.

fun thing for Tuesday:  talking to Amy.  What a hoot, what a sweet reminder of family.  She had just picked up Ian and Maggie from kindergarten.  As we talked, we got to listen to a running conversation among the three of them ("Ian, is Maggie your best friend?  Then talk to her that way"... "Maggie, put your candy back in your backpack.  You have to eat your burrito"...).  It was 11:30 a.m. there, 7:30 p.m. here, after a long day of cleaning and packing.  Pure refreshment!