Bonds.

 

And now I think of all those people who were part of my days in the past. They were the ordinary, the usual faces which filled my time: at school when I was a teenager, at home and at university in Venice and the same here in Padua, in Brno... I'm not talking about the stream of people passing by, the ones who never had much in common with me- or maybe I just never realized it. I'm thinking about the persons who hold a special place in my memory, to whom I'm grateful and with which I share a great deal of memories: from afternoons at the library to shared meals, strolls around the city and deep conversations. They constituted my daily routines for specific periods, but now? Life goes on and everybody chooses his own path. Now that you have the chance to travel and to meet people from all over the world, you also have to give up on them more easily- not on the whole, but at least you have to get accustomed with the thought that your lives will collide for a limited amount of time. These are people I opened up to and felt close to... Nowadays I'm often told that I've changed, that I'm less shy and I talk to strangers more easily. That happened because of the choices I've made (living alone, going on Erasmus- they are not hard, suffered choices- they represented wonderful opportunities, of course- but they also scared me) and thanks to the amazing people I've met: Marika, Valentina, Michela, Francesca, Giulia, Gosia, Gogi, Majo, my classmates here in Padua, Elena particularly, Maria Grazia... Most of those people are actually friends, but I know I won't keep in touch forever with all of them and I know I'm bad at that; still, I feel connected to them and it's a bliss that I've met them, because they've all changed me and enriched me, and I look up on them because I think they're wonderful humans.

*These thoughts aroused in my mind after an evening spent with two of my former professors in high school: two great women who stand out for their courage, intelligence and grace. To one in particular I've always felt connected, out of admiration.