{"id":379503,"date":"2013-11-10T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-11-10T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/2013\/11\/10\/paesanos\/"},"modified":"2013-11-10T21:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-11-10T21:00:00","slug":"paesanos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/2013\/11\/10\/paesanos\/","title":{"rendered":"Paesanos"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/span><\/p>\n
Yesterday, I spent a gloriously exhausting day at a TEDx event, where I met with many wonderfully new and exciting ideas and people.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
One speech brought together those two entities in the form of a single word: Paesano<\/i>.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Paesano<\/span><\/i>, as he told us, literally translates to countrymen<\/i> or villager<\/i>, but the truest essence of what it represents is friend<\/i>.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Not the \u201cLike\u201d me on Facebook fellow you see in a million posts and images that say: \u201cYou should\u2019ve been there!\u201d or the \u201cLiked\u201d person whom you only speak to when you run into her at the grocery store or your child\u2019s school.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The paesano<\/i> is the person who was actually there, sitting beside you on the beach, at the bar, in the stadium, the funeral home, or the Fun House at the fair.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The paesano<\/i> is someone you can and will go to when your child is affected by a lice outbreak in school and you have to treat every square inch of your home to prevent further infestation.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
The paesano<\/i> is someone you can and will tell your greatest fears to, one with whom you\u2019ll share your greatest hopes and dreams, your unabashed silliness, and your least and most reverent thoughts.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
\ufeff<\/div>\n
\ufeff<\/div>\n
Of the many people I connected with at this event, one was a paesano<\/i> of nearly two decades, and there seemed to be a spark with four others, a glimmer that may or may not lead to that lifelong kinship.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
But no matter how those relationships develop or where they take us, one thing is for certain: They were an integral part of the Moments that nourished my happy…<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
\ufeff<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Here are the other week\u2019s highlights: <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t here when you got the news,\u201d Warren said as he handed me these gifts, \u201cbut I wanted you to know how happy I am for you that you\u2019ve been accepted to speak about your work.” <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
He\u2019s one of my longest standing paesanos<\/i> and exudes other qualities that exist in those types of lifelong bonds, like a willingness to learn and grow and adapt with our loved one when life shifts the foundations upon which she have been living\u2026 <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
Smiles were delivered as another card in my mother\u2019s fun and heartwarming Soon-to-be-50 series arrived in my mailbox…<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
And during the mother-son bonding that occurred as Big Guy and I worked to create and build a better habitat for his turtle, Squirtle…<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
This young man has had a fascination with turtles for as long as I can remember, and sister Beauty thought of him when she found this young creature, one that wasn\u2019t much bigger than a fifty-cent piece when she brought him home for her baby brother.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I\u2019ve always hoped that my children would grow up to be paesanos<\/i>, that they\u2019d count each other among their treasured friends to share life\u2019s many moments, be they good, bad, or indifferent\u2026<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Squirtle is a simple demonstration of that type of bond\u2026<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
And speaking of Big Guy, I was honored and proud to sit in attendance as this young man\u2019s hard work and dedication to community, character, academics, and leadership was rewarded by an induction into the National Honor Society.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span>\ufeff<\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I\u2019ve tried to refrain from posting pics of my children all these years, because I want to respect their privacy, and yet, they are some of the most important people in my life\u2026<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
From here forth, I\u2019m going to trust that some day they will appreciate these living journals, that hopefully these posts and messages may eventually serve them in some small way, just as they\u2019re serving me and you, my comrades in this online community\u2026 <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I was also paesano<\/i> to myself week, as well. You see, other than laundry (we have to have clean underwear, now don\u2019t we?) and doing the dishes, we haven\u2019t touched any other household chore in three weeks.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The grit I kept picking up on my bare feet was really beginning to annoy me, as were the two large bags of rotting apples, fruit that was fresh when Warren picked them from our trees two weeks back so I could make homemade applesauce and pie filling.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I was beginning to do what so many of us do: pull out the hammer and berate myself because I wasn\u2019t keeping up with Emily Post-style standards<\/span><\/a>, and I was feeling like I was behind and would never catch up.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
When I don\u2019t let things like obligation get in my way, I love cooking and being in my kitchen. It\u2019s probably my favorite room of the house.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
So, rather than continue to feel all icky, I decided on Tuesday to take the time<\/span><\/a>to take care of those apples. I now have five quarts of applesauce and two batches of apple pie filling in the freezer, deliciously warm Moments for a future, cold winter\u2019s day.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Keeping that momentum, I asked Hubby if we could attack the housework after dinner and concentrate on the things the House Helper did when she was here.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In less than two hours, Warren and Big Guy and I managed to clean both bathrooms from top to bottom, scour the kitchen, sweep and mop the floors, clean and dust all tabletop surfaces, broom off the deck, and put away the baskets of laundry that had taken up residence on the sofa.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Last but not least of the moments that brought me joy these past seven days is this zany Subway employee who dresses up like a sandwich and dances on the sidewalk to support his job, both literally and figuratively, I\u2019d presume\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n

I see him at least once a week as I drive by the intersection, and his enthusiasm as he bounces around always draws a smile\u2026<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

What about you? What Moment(s) nourished your happy this week?<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/o:p>Soon\u2026<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday, I spent a gloriously exhausting day at a TEDx event, where I met with many wonderfully new and exciting ideas and people. One speech brought together those two entities in the form of a single word: Paesano. Paesano, as he told us, literally translates to countrymen or villager, but the truest essence of what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[316,317,277,233,1169,1170,63,320,223,366,1116,1171,497],"class_list":["post-379503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-happyhappens","tag-finding-happiness-in-your-day","tag-friendships","tag-happy-happens","tag-national-honor-society","tag-paesano","tag-parenting","tag-random-happiness","tag-relationships","tag-shit-happens","tag-tedx","tag-tedxchemungriver","tag-turning-50"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/TEDxChemungRiver-Stage.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}