Birthdays at the Arda River, Italy

by Jo
(Las Vegas, Nevada, USA)

It was about 25 years ago that I first traveled from Alseno, Italy to the waters of Arda. My grandfather Domenico first took me there on my birthday. He would take out his pipe and talk about how beautiful the countryside was.

This become somewhat of a tradition, traveling to the Arda and sitting peacefully by the water. We never once swam in it, but just enjoyed its sound.

Domenico would take out his bottle of limoncello and sip it as we looked at the flowers. He would always say expressions in Italian that I never learned or understood, but I remember his wrinkly face smiling at me.

For my birthday he would pick me a flower and put it in my hair. "Che bella!" he would say and I would giggle. The very last birthday before he died, I visited him in Alseno once again, and he gave me a blue flower when we went to the Arda River for the very last time.

I'll never forget this birthday tradition, not because it was anything unusual or outlandish, but because it was so simple. In life, Domenico knew that spending time with family was the best gift anyone could give. Every birthday I think back to those days and smile to myself. I've always tried to find out what flower it was that he chose, but I've never been able to locate it.

This year, I think I should buy a bottle of limoncello and some flowers in honor of Domenico's birthday.

--Jo