Well, it's Sunday night, you've had a Big week, 50th Anniversary, Melissa had a nice party, relatives you had not seen in many years, some you had never seen, friends, even bumped in to people at Walmart that you had not seen in years, a really great week, are you happy?
No, sad, I envy Pietro Mazzini who lived in Mazaguro, Italy. He was born in '32, same as I, he went to school, had a Mother and a Father, a Sister and a Brother. Pietro had four grandparents that lived in the same village, he got to see them all the time, he had many Aunts and Uncles and cousins who he would see almost every week. He had a big family.
Holidays were big occasions for Pietro, he loved tham. all of his many relatives would congregate, get together, the ladies would do all the cooking, the men would all sit outside, admire the beautiful countryside and talk, the boys would play Bocce, the girls would talk and giggle. There would be as many as thirty or forty people, all family members, gathered around the big table, they always tried to get the whole family, sitting together.
Before they ate, it was a tradition that they would all hold hands, and the head of the household would say a prayer. They they all ate and talked, talked and ate.
The whole family stayed and worked in Mazaguro, some in the vineyards, a few at the post office, one was a mechanic, a few worked in the stores as clerks, but, they all stayed in Mazaguro, Mothers, Fathers, Brothers and Sisters, Uncles and Aunts and all the Cousins.
That is why I envy Pietro, he was not a wealthy man, not in material things, but he was a rich man, all of his family lived nearby.
Me, I've got kids in New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, family in Michigan, good friends in Oklahoma and California, even some nearby, that I rarely see. I did get to see some this weekend, Melissa got them together for our Anniversary .... didn't get to spend enough time with them though, and, now they are all gone. What a shame we cannot get together more often .....
Pietro, well, a lot of the family get together after church and have a big lunch, then the kids play games and the elders just talk, and enjoy each other, sometimes they just sit and enjoy the quiet, and each other. They don't need TV or football, they have each other, and, they don't even know how lucky they are, they are just ............ happy and content ................
