Love is in the air

My mind keeps on going back to the same place, the place where I have stored all my memories of our living in the States. I find moments that are bright and clear like the birth of our son. Others like the purchase of our first home, our move to California, or our graduations, bring a smile to my face; a sense of thinks accomplished, our growth as a family. I know I was happy there.
Today I find myself in Italy, a country coveted by many. I moved here on a whim, looking for something that I didn’t know I had lost. We are here under the best of circumstances, as my husband’s job brought us here. We will stay for three years and then we would head back “home.” We kept our house, left a lot of our things in storage, like an anchor to bring us back to safety. We have one foot here and the other is still back there. We find ourselves mid-step on our way to our future.
We have fallen in love with this country of magical beauty, of incredible history and maddening bureaucracy. We have found a little of our Colombian selves amidst the centuries old buildings and the impossible traffic. We understand Italy, we relate, we are infatuated with it.
Whenever anyone asks us about our new life here, I am always at a loss for the right words. I feel different, but I don’t know how to explain it. I enjoy the change of pace that comes with living a simple life, a quiet life. Is it Italy or is it us? We left behind a way of life, a merry-go-round of sorts, with all its beauty and its joy. We are now walking in silence, with all our senses ready for the next discovery, just the three of us in our little universe, the dog following close behind.