13/10/2026
A MOMENT WHEN THE WORLD SEEMS EXCEPTIONALLY SMALL
There are moments in life when the world seems extraordinarily small, and our recent dinner with a wonderful group of travelers was certainly one of them. Gathered around the table were six members of a family who had come to Sicily in loving remembrance of a close family member who had passed away. Their family roots traced back to Trecastagni, the very Sicilian town from which my own ancestors came. Imagine that! Thousands of miles from America, and here we were, sharing not only a wonderful Sicilian dinner but a common ancestral hometown.
But the coincidences didn't end there. During dinner, I discovered that two of the gentlemen had grown up in Lawrence, Massachusetts, my own hometown, before moving to neighboring Andover when they were seven years old. Both had attended the Venerini Sisters kindergarten and Holy Rosary School, institutions deeply connected to my own childhood. And then came another wonderful discovery! Both gentlemen still periodically return to Lawrence for the Feast of Saints Alfio, Filadelfo, and Cirino, the beloved religious celebration that has connected generations of Sicilian immigrants to the annual festivities in Trecastagni. Think about that for a moment. The same saints, the same traditions, the same ancestral village, and childhood memories stretching across an ocean and several generations. You couldn't make this stuff up!
Joining us were my dear friend Nancy and her beautiful daughter, Gina. Nancy is one of my favorite travelers, and I have enormous admiration for her adventurous spirit. About five years ago, she made the courageous decision to leave America and establish a new life in a small Sicilian town of approximately 7,000 people. And she hasn't merely survived the experience; she has prospered! Anyone who has made the leap from American life to the rhythms, customs, and occasional madness of Sicily knows that such a move requires determination, patience, and a healthy sense of humor.
As I looked around that table, I couldn't help thinking about the extraordinary threads that connect our lives. A family honoring a loved one by returning to its ancestral roots, childhood memories of Lawrence finding new life in Sicily, the enduring traditions of Saints Alfio, Filadelfo, and Cirino, and an American woman who discovered that home can sometimes be found an ocean away. Eight wonderful travelers, Eszter Vajda and me, good food, a few glasses of w**e, and enough stories to fill an entire evening. Sicily has a remarkable way of bringing people together, but every so often, it does something even more special. It reminds us that the places we come from never really leave us, no matter how far we travel.
