Eva in Rome

We finally made it to Rome! Rome was our second home last year (our first year of living in Florence), but with all of the events of the past few months, we hadn't been able to go ourselves or to take Eva to Rome until this weekend. Eva was, naturally, a dream. She took in stride all of the stresses of travel and meeting new people and seeing new places and responded with her usual interest and good cheer and patience. The weekend also brought her first taste of real Italian sun and heat, but that didn't seem to bother her much.

It was a full weekend combining traditions of things that we always do when we're in Rome (like tranquil mornings in the garden of our friends' apartment, leisurely enjoying coffee) along with visits to new places (like the Museum of Modern Art, which in Rome includes the 19th century :). Added to that were the memories of our times there over the past 4 years as well as making new ones this weekend with Eva.

I'll be turning this weekend over in my mind for a long time. It brought a fitting closure to much of my life here in Italy. I arrived in Rome nearly 4 years ago, but from what a different life! My brother Tim had passed away only a few months before, and I had just started to get to know Bill, to mention only the most major differences. And now here I am, one month before returning home to stay but married to Bill and with a 7-month-old baby after 2 years in Rome and 2 in Florence. Italy has been a essential part of all of these changes, so being in Rome gave me the chance to see again and be grateful again for all of what the last 4 years have brought.



Here is Eva in St. Peter's Square with one of the new friends of the weekend: Fr. Benjamin Sember, the second youngest priest in the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin (his identical twin brother, Fr. Joel Sember, holds the record of youngest priest in the diocese by 2 minutes). Fr. Benjamin has been ordained almost one year and will be returning home this summer after finishing his license in Canon Law. He and Eva hit it right off, enjoying the square and a walk along the Gianicolo hill.



Even though she slept on the floor and slept in a new place, she still slept through the night!



Eva and our friend Mary--look at the sturdy legs on Eva! This was right after the first big heat wave hit and for the first time we had to get her down to just her onsie. Also notice in the background the essential Roman (and Italian) characteristics: graffitti on the closer wall, a roadside shrine to Mary on the far wall.



Eva and I went to Rome a day ahead of Bill so we could visit the Angelicum, aka :) the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, on Friday morning. I spent 2 years studying theology and philosophy here, finishing the second year of studies just 2 months before Bill and I were married. It was a delight to be able to take Eva there and introduce her to all of the professors and to friends who are still studying there. Here we are in the courtyard of the Angelicum with Jona Serie, Heidi (Fenton) Keiser and Mary Nolan, 3 of my great friends of these years.