Happy Endings

The Prodigal Charm Bracelet

It's been MIA for over a year. I didn't dare say this to anyone else, but as the weeks and months passed by I was beginning to lose hope that I would ever see it again.

Even as doubt began to creep in, I still refused to say the bracelet was lost. This wasn't just any old bracelet, though as one of my oldest pieces of jewelry, it was getting up there in years. This was my charm bracelet. The one dad bought for me one foggy day in San Francisco thus beginning decades of collecting pretty sterling silver momentos of the places we traveled to or lived in. Between the sentimental value, the added cost of each charm, and cost of travel, the bracelet definitely had a "priceless" quality to it.

For these reasons and more it was difficult to admit it was likely lost forever. For all intents and purposes I said the bracelet was missing. I was so sure at the beginning that the bracelet would miraculously appear...Under the bed amidst the dust bunnies on the floor...In one of the many trinket boxes cluttering my room...Tucked under the driver's seat of my little VW bug, along with the quarters, candy and gum wrappers that cluttered the floor...Jammed into the desk drawer that houses all the junk that you don't want to throw away, yet doesn't have a good home in the house...hanging out in the wet bar sink that has only been used as a storage bin for junk mail, bobby pins, cellphone charges and other devices...My list of places to look could go on and on.

Each place I methodically combed thru came up empty-handed...no charm bracelet, no sign of any charms. After all the years of collecting the silver replicas of the places we visited, it was hard to let go and resign myself to the fact that it was likely gone. Gone for good. Gone for bad. Gone. Gone. Gone.

My heart knew it. My mind knew it, but I couldn't bring myself to admit it out loud because once I did, all bets were off and my words would make it so. Gone forever. So I did the only thing I could do. I pretended to myself not to care which was a bold faced lie. I also pretended to be confident...it would show up at the least unexpected moment.

I also prayed to God that if were not too much trouble, could he lead me to my bracelet? After all, if there was one thing I knew for sure it was that God knew exactly where my charm bracelet was. If it was in some obscure place in my room, or stuffed into some box of junk we didn't know what do with, he would reveal it when the time was right.

Nothing.

I had only misplaced my charm bracelet once before which is surprising because I have a bad habit of subconsciously taking off my jewelry and putting the jewelry down without any thought which has resulted in the loss of many other bracelets, rings, earrings and necklaces. But my charm bracelet? Never! It had too much sentimental value for me to be so careless with it.

It was one of the first "real" pieces of jewelry I owned. Dad bought it for me one foggy day 40-years ago in San Francisco. What made him decide to do it, I'm not sure. All I know is we walked into a little store located on the crowded streets as we walked from Fisherman's Wharf to Pier 39 and we came out with a glistening silver bracelet, with a glistening clover shaped charm firmly attached. With all our travels, it was a perfect gift. Soon the links were filled with charms in the shape of the state in which we visited or some other sightseeing wonder. I mourned the loss of the Colosseum which we bought during my first visit to Italy and the Leaning Tower of Pisa which represented my second and likely (though I hope not) last trip to Italy.

It felt like a dream when I received a call from my baby girl last December asking me to "guess what". What? What? What?  Guessing games are difficult as well as annoying when one is woken up from a deep sleep with no clue of where to begin. After a few failed attempts, she took pity upon me and agreed to give me a hint or two.

Her first hint gave me enough of a clue that I was afraid to guess what I wanted to guess. "You've been looking for it for a long time now." I was afraid I would cry if I was wrong. Where was my confident hope that I always laid claim to.

"You found my charm bracelet?!?" I braced myself, closing my eyes as she answered with a yes that was too good to be true. Surely she was pulling my leg. I waited for the punchline. Only there wasn't. After all that time, it turned out my bracelet was hidden tight in a crevasse of my car. Stuck in a little compartment between the back passenger seats and the trunk. A compartment we never ever used. A compartment I don't believe I never ever even opened.

For some obscure reason, Brie decided to open the compartment and feel around the perimeter when her hand came upon a cloth Brighton bag. It had to feel like a miracle when she opened the drawstrings and there was my charm bracelet glistening hello. It felt like one to me when she brought it to my room later that night.

My tears flowed. I love happy endings

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

In 2012 I traveled pretty extensively...Here's a little list, in no particular order...

• Italy

• Austin

• Boston

• 
  

• Sacramento (and all the little trips to Old Towns)

• San Francisco (April 2012)

• San Francisco (not once, but twice!)

 

• San Diego/La Jolla

• Monterey

In 2014, my world shrank considerably and thus far I've been able to travel to the following...

• Phoenix (spring training for Dodgers)

• Sacramento

• Boo Hoo Hoo

Trying to work out a trip for my last big hurrah...or something that will kick start me into spreading my horizons.

Wondering where 2015 will take me. Somewhere over the rainbow. I hope.

I Love You Bro!

We made a pact that started after Elizabeth turned 50. We would all get together for a mini-vacay at the place of the birthday sibling's choice (within reason). In someway it wasn't really fair to Eliz because she didn't pick San Francisco, Angela and I did. It was somewhat of a compromise because I wanted to have an Extreme Makeover/Home Edition for her and Angela thought a weekend in San Francisco was in order. We managed to pull both off.

A year and a half, my choice was Monterey, California where we stayed at Asilomar, which allowed us the opportunity to gather together in the lobby for games and pool. I enjoyed every moment of our vacation, especially Sunday morning when everyone met down by the beach for communion and family fun time.

Two years later, it's Victor's turn to hit the magic number. His request was to meet in Phoenix so we could go to a few Dodger spring training game. With so many Dodger fans in our family, it wasn't hard to get everyone to say yes.

This is my family.

The ones that I love.

We aren't perfect, but we are there for one another.

And in case you didn't know it, we're Dodger fans (and some are Angel's fans too).

Happy birthday, my dear brother! And many, many more!

I love you Bro!

The Second Best Thing about Siena

I won't go into the story of how I was called tonto by an exceedingly rude cashier at the Cathedral of all places. What we had was a failure to communicate. What she had was the typical Italian temper. What I had was the right to defend myself as I angrily told her that I was not stupid, but she just wasn't listening to me.

We did ultimately make our way into the Cathedral which was exceedingly beautiful. The heat of the day, however, was taking its toll and it was time to do something about it...which meant it was time for our daily dose of gelato!!

We ended up at a gelato shop overlooking the Piazza and what a treat it was. They had a little balcony which we took full advantage of the picture opportunity it lent us. Just like sitting out on the Piazza, there was something magical about overlooking it from above.

We could have stayed on the balcony forever, except that there was another family waiting for their opportunity to take some pictures out there so we had to be consideration and share. It's so cool how the view changes from another vantage point.

Then as we were leaving, I had the inspiration to get some pictures of the girls on the balcony from down on the Piazza.

So much fun! Too bad we had to walk back to the car.

The gelato helped, but we were still hot and tired as evidenced by this photo in which the girls and I were taking pictures of ourselves in the traffic mirror and you can see Liz finding a place to rest.

I believe I mentioned hiring a taxi and no one protested. Instead we found the bus station and someone who was willing to tell us what to do. We were supposed to buy our bus tickets from a local shop before we got on the bus. And just like that we made our way back to the car. Even better was the easy drive back to the villa. Much, much better than Pisa...except for the part where I was called tonto.

Siena

I had never heard of Siena until a few years ago. A couple in my bible study group mentioned they had been to Italy several times and Siena was their favorite place there. Afraid of a big let down, such as Pisa, I decided not to have any expectations.

Getting there was easy enough. It was a a little further than Florence, but not as far as Pisa which was a big positive. Like all the other cities we had been to, I parked at the very first lot I found and once again, we found ourselves walking in the direction of the "Centro". Just in case, I took some landmark photos of our surroundings. I wasn't going to take any chances of a repeat of Pisa.



Not a block away, we saw a bus stop and for some reason, I found myself suggesting that we catch a bus.

It was the weirdest ride ever. No one would look at us or talk to us. Including the bus driver and the three riders we asked about how to pay. It was as if we had the plague. So we rode on the bus like a bunch of bozos looking for a sign that would indicate it was time to get off. After about 10 minutes, the road we were on, began to look like the onset of a city and finally up ahead was what appeared to be a very old entrance to the city.

This had to be it. Not sure how close the bus would stop, we got off several blocks before the actual structure. No worries, we needed to find a pharmacy and post office, not necessarily in that order.

First up, a pharmacy where mosquito repellent was needed. Liz and the girls were beginning to get eaten alive and were desperate for some relief from those pesky things. After buying some repellent and cortisone lotion, we continued up the street and ran into the ufficio postale.

Things were looking up! Things as first were not as expected once we passed through the arches of the structure. I don't know what I was expecting, but this wasn't quite it. The buildings were beautiful, but there wasn't much around. We continued to walk forward.

Although the streets were a bit desolate, it didn't have the same feeling of oppression as I felt in Pisa.

By this time it was mid-day and the heat was rising. But the beauty of our surroundings made it easy to overlook the discomfort.

Slowly the scenery began to change and we began to see more signs of activity.

And suddenly we came upon the Piazza del Campo, the most beautiful piazza I had ever seen.

After a mediocre lunch in the Piazza, we explored the surroundings. While the girls and Liz checked out a few stores, I plopped myself down on the cobblestone and just enjoyed the moment.

It's a moment I will not forget. It's one of my most favorite moments of the whole trip. Just sitting there, like I belonged, taking in the surroundings, watching a few others who were sitting too. Some were sitting there talking, some writing, some sketching. It's a moment I wished I could make last forever.

This was my moment.

If I would have spent the rest of my afternoon there, I would have been happy, but I knew we had come to see more than the Piazza so after some more photos, we ventured out to find the Duomo.

Back to Florence

In part because we loved Florence so much and in part because after what we experienced in Pisa we felt tentative about heading to the unknown, we decided another day trip to Florence was in order.

Our drive was uneventful and it was good to head out as though we lived there forever. It was just what the doctor ordered. Since the girls missed out on climbing to the very top of the Duomo and Liz wanted to go inside the Cathedral, we started off there first. While they did this, I wandered about the area by myself, taking pictures to my heart's content.

The fashion in Italy, especially Florence was lovely. A girl could go broke!

The bell on this bike caught my fancy so I came in close for a shot. 

As I was walking away, this gentleman walked up to the bike and asked me laughingly in an Italian English accent, if I liked his bike. I laughed, why, yes, I did and as I walked away, I turned back and got a shot of him. Wished I had taken it from the front. He was quite dapper.

The green and red here caught my eye.

And even more bikes.

A self portrait as I window shopped.

We decided to check out the Ufizzi because we wanted to see Michelangelo's David. There was a line to get into the museum, but we felt the David would be worth the wait. While there, I ended up talking to two American women, sharing our experience. I must admit, it was a little fun hearing the admiration in their voice when I told them that we had rented a villa...in Tuscany...and I was driving us around the country.

I might know how to get to Florence, but I didn't know that the David is not housed at the Ufizzi so we were a bit disappointed after we finally got into the museum. The art work was beautiful, but we weren't allowed to take pictures like we were in the Louvre. Boo!!

However, we did make our way to the cafe area of the museum and found a lovely rooftop area where we could get some more pictures in.

By the time we finished exploring the museum, we were happy, but tired. We stopped to rest our feet and fill our stomachs with gelato on the Ponte Vecchio before we made the hike back to our car.

What a huge difference it was walking back to our car when we knew exactly where it was. Even though we were tired and it was about a 20 minute walk to the car, it was a lighthearted, happy walk back.

Made a little longer as we stopped for even more pictures along the way :)