The Silver Lining

The two and a half weeks that the kids were at home sick provided for some wonderful moments while we were cooped up at home. When you have a second child, things are forever changed in many ways from the time when your family was a simple threesome. We remember the many times that the three of us (Anna, Trey and I) would spend time together and the arrival of Olivia of course changed that dynamic six years ago.

Where I’m sure Trey misses the times when he had mom and dad all to himself, Olivia was never able to experience this feeling as the second child.

The two and a half weeks that spanned each of their illnesses provided a unique opportunity for each of them (And us as parents) to share quality time together. Many of those days were simply spent on the couch watching cartoons, drinking hot tea and cuddling under our warm blankets that the kids love so much. Once they were starting to recover, we encouraged them to go out doors with us to shop for groceries or have lunch just to catch some fresh air. One of my favorite memories of them being sick was a Saturday morning when Trey and I bundled up, parked the car outside the city center and walked the streets of Florence, stopping along the way at some of my favorite spots that he never gets to visit because he is in school. We visited Leonardo, our shoe repair guy whose kind face and tranquil demeanor will always remind me of the Italian way of life. Leonardo works in his own little shoe shinning shop that is no larger than my walk in closet at home. Some days, I see his 88 year old father in there with him, polishing shoes for the local residents.

On our walk we passed by the lady that Anna and I just adore (We’ve never been able to get her name) who we see walking the streets from time to time or taking in lunch at a local Trattoria. She’s always dressed to the “9’s”, so proud and so full of style. On March the 8th she turned 100 years old!

We went to see Salvatore, my favorite delicatessen at Olio and Convivium (A great restaurant) who sliced us thin portions of Mortadella, Salami and Prociutto. As is always the case, he gave Trey a few chocolate biscotti’s for the road, free of charge of course.

What was so special about this day? Nothing other than the fact that I was not at work, Trey was not at school and we were in Florence Italy visiting my favorite local proprietors, something we would not have had time to do had the kids not been sick! I have had many similar experiences with Olivia as she and I have a little routine of jumping on the motorino together and riding to the center. She loves riding on the motorino with me and the proprietors just eat her up! Every place we go she gets free food. Hell, if I took her everyday we would not need to feed her otherwise!