I carry maps within my heart
a lifetime of journeys,
pretty villages, majestic mountains,
sparkling seas,
ancient cities and vibrant cultures,
each one leaving its mark.

Some roads led exactly where I hoped.
Others wandered off course,
becoming the stories
I now tell with a smile.

One place has always called me back.

Silver-green olive groves.
Narrow cobbled lanes.
The sharp fragrance of lemons
warming beneath the Mediterranean sun.
Salt on my skin.
Cypress trees standing like quiet sentinels.

Italy doesn’t simply welcome me.
It feels like home.

I dream of a villa overlooking the sea,
where family gathers without invitation
and strangers leave as friends.

A long weathered table,
plates passed from hand to hand,
tomatoes bubbling gently on the stove,
rosemary, garlic and fresh bread
perfuming the evening air.

The kind of place
where no one is in a hurry to leave.

I collect recipes,
stories from ordinary lives,
the sound of laughter,
sunsets that silence conversation,
the wonder of animals,
the joy of my grandchildren,
and landscapes that remind me
how beautiful the world can be.

I’ve learned that wealth
has little to do with what we own.

It lives in shared meals,
well-worn passports,
friendships,
and the memories we carry long after the journey ends.

Life has made me resilient.

I’ve fallen,
stood up,
and kept walking.

Yet somehow
I’ve never lost my sense of wonder—
the ability to stop,
to notice,
to be moved by beauty.

These days my body reminds me
that time is passing.

The joints complain.
The muscles ache.

Still, I choose to keep moving.

I lift weights.
I ride around the lake,
breathing in eucalyptus after rain,
watching clouds drift across still water
while birds greet another morning.

I read.
I walk my dogs.
I linger over coffee with friends.

And whenever I can,
I disappear into travel books,
maps,
and dreams of places
still waiting to be explored.

Every day I learn another word of Italian.

One phrase.
One sentence.
One small step.

Perhaps I’m not only learning a language.

Perhaps I’m slowly finding my way
to the life I’ve always imagined.