SEPTEMBER 2026

My grandmother was born in Italy and came to the US as a child at the age of 7. She instilled in me the love of Italian art, culture, and cuisine.  Helping her make pasta when I could barely stand.  Picking tomatoes, making the passata, getting the heel of the bread stuffed with her homemade meatballs and gravy.  The days of cooking leading up to a holiday.  No meat on Fridays. The men outside playing bocce.  The boys lining up to get haircuts in the garage.   The smell of basil makes me think of my beautiful Nonna to this day.

When I was in my mid 30’s I went to Italy for work and fell in love.  Roma, Florance, Milan, Naples – all so beautiful.  And then I arrived in Lecce and my entire body reacted – HOME!   Little did I know at the time that my grandmother was born in an olive grove not very far away.

Now I am preparing for that move.  Will it be permanent?  Will I go back and forth from the USA to Italy?  This is my story and I hope it will be helpful to those also looking for the sweet life.

How I Got Here

In 2016 when our political world turned on it’s head I realized that it might be time to start looking at what may be best for myself and my son.  He has dual citizenship as his father is German.  I started looking into what we should do.  Should we go to Europe?  In looking at dual citizenship for myself I found that I did not qualify.  My grandmother was naturalized as a child and this broke the bloodline. (As I write this in 2026 the ‘minor issue’ was just addressed by the Italian Supreme Court. This opens the door to myself and my sisters. That journey and it’s twists and turns will be addressed as we move forward. )

This set me back and I decided to wait and see what other options I could explore.  My son was in high school at this point. So, we concentrated on getting him through these years and on to university. 

All was going well until I turned 59.  Out of the blue I had horrible pain between my shoulder blades.  I was having a massive heart attack.  I had open heart surgery and they replaced 2 arteries.   Anyone that has had a life-threatening event will tell you how much you apricate life afterwards.  A year after my recovery I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s.  This took a while to balance out with mediation but I started to feel better once it was.  Then another hammer dropped – I was diagnosed with Essential Thrombocythemia – a rare blood cancer that causes excess platelets that increase the risk of dangerous blood clots, heart attacks, or strokes. While incurable, it is highly treatable and I am now on medication and am out of the danger zone. 

The Next Steps

I am going to Italy this month to start looking at the neighborhoods of Bari and Lecce.  This blog will pick up as we go through the steps and options and I will share the information here for all of you.  This is the journey of me finding my ‘la dolce vita’!