Monday Morning

All’s quiet on the Southern Front – Italy’s on strike. The railroad workers went on strike at 9:00 and everyone else is striking – in support. So the commuter and freights that speed by the Bravin house almost every 10 minutes are silent – only the high speed international eurostars are passing.

This morning Mikki took Kilian to catch an early train to Trieste – otherwise he would have been walking the 90 meters to the university, once the strike began. He didn’t leave last night, as planned – instead we played Pitch. We Morgans must have our priorities!

Kilian will be in Trieste this week; returning home next week before going back on the 27th – I think those are the dates; I’m known to get confused.

Mikke and Giorgia partnered against Kilian and I; each of us won a game. We’ll play again – however there will be no “vibrating” cell phones nearby and kids answering text messages. I was ready to go across the table and grab Kil by the throat when he forgot “off Jack” while he was busy texting – but my own cards were so awful; it wasn’t worth it.

Another car; another kid – Giorgia had a driving lesson yesterday – on a Standard!!! It’s been about 20 years since I last drove with a kid using a standard shift – Ben in Wheaton. My experience with Giorgia was less scary. Mikki in the back seat was possibly the greatest distraction; silence was beyond her abilities…only kidding. Given a first lesson; all went quite well. We went to one of the factory parking lots and practiced shifting, turning, braking – all that stuff. She’ll do fine.

This morning Mikki is starting the paperwork for the land. The title is in both her name and Franco’s. This afternoon they meet with Marco’s (brother-in-law; Sonja’s husband) brother who will give them advice about the property distribution. 50% of Franco’s portion goes to the 3 kids and 50% to Mikki. Because Giorgia & Kilian are of age, their’s immediately goes to them; while Mikki manages Morgan’s portion. The kids wish to sign it over to Mikki but she needs to make sure that by signing it to her they still are entitled to an equal amount; should anything happen to her. Nothing too unusual – same as in the states.

This is probably more information than anyone needs or wants to know but as this is an open blog; I want to assure the family that Mikki and the kids are doing well. Of course it’s terribly hard and the grief, pain, hurt overwhelms them but they are piecing together the shattered fragments of their lives and trying to form a new picture of the future. There are a couple of jig-saw puzzles upstairs and I’m struck by the similarities – trying to put it back together without a clear picture to follow and always those darn missing pieces.

There are lots of decisions to make but before that can be done; Mikki needs more information – she’s getting it. She’s fortunate to live in a community of friends and family who can make contacts for her. Certainly, if it were me in Kentucky – I wouldn’t know where to start.

So…on we go. Morgan just left for soccer practice. Giorgia’s waiting for a driving lesson – I’m still building the new flower bed in front of the veranda. Kilian helped me yesterday and we got it dug out. Now I’m pulling out the weeds. It’s about 3’ wide and I’m thinking of starting with lavender – I still have to go to a nursery and look at the plants recommended for this area.

That’s it for now.