The Blue Room

Blue, from Italy and
now downsized with the
blue sofa gone. Hutch and
ornate blue chairs remain.
After many moons, we
visited our former babysitter.
We referred to her as Zia.
Her child care was impeccable.
More like being part of her family..
After all this time, Zia’s love shines
through in the thick photo
album she has kept with
handwritten thank you notes
sent her. Photos of all the
children lovingly displayed
Our children were
newborns when she lovingly
accepted them into her home.

Apparently as a first time
Mom, I left ten pages of
details about our firstborn,
our son. She only had him
a few hours but remembered
she had changed his diaper some
ten times. Was I that detailed?
I don’t recall. It’s a steep learning
curve with first born children.
Later our daughter joined our son
under her care. Zia sang to them in
Italian and spoke to them in Italian.
As a German teacher, I loved the
early exposure to another language.
When they were older, our two
came home speaking Italian to
us and singing us the songs. My
husband and I smiled and explained
that we didn’t speak Italian. Not
to worry however. We heard many
stories of other young children under
her loving care. It’s as if we were
still back in former times and as
comfortable with her and her family.
It became our big extended Italian
family. Of course, we sat down
to a wonderful, tasty Italian meal
which began with a plate of pasta
and her homemade sauce. A feast,
our meal was prepared for many
more than just the three of us
and her family. The Italian way.

Living more in a country-like
setting these days, Zio Joe has
chickens and plays them music.
He called to them through the
sliding glass window. They came
running for tasty morsels of
bread. Later I was given a
royal treat: 12 freshly laid
eggs. How tasty.  Of course
we were handed extra food to
take with us. Banana nut bread
baked by her daughter. Cake
with pistachios from Italy. All
the food was fresh and made
from scratch. We were spoiled just
as Zia and Zio used to do. This
year they celebrate fifty years
of marriage. Such a happy, loving
and giving couple. Role models for
all of us. Thank you Zia for helping
to rear our children when they were
infants. You knew better than we did
as anxious first-time parents. The
main ingredient you gave all of
us was love. Her blue room reflects love.