I Am Home

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I Am Home

by Lori Hamm,  01/08/2026


The sun is up, the sky is blue.

Through the window I see the church on the Carignano hill bathed in white morning light and soft gray shadows. Summer is full-on here. We have the windows closed to keep the humid heat out and the cool air inside. The windows also block most of the noise from the birds, but an occasional laughing call of a seagull or a high-pitched twitter of a spinning swift makes it inside to my ear.

I am content, sipping my espresso lungo and ruminating. I feel I belong here on this hillside overlooking the splay of concrete and stone stretching out towards the horizon. From my seat I can’t see the sea, but I know it is there…a little over two kilometers away. 

I get up and move to another window to catch a glimpse of the patch of deep blue visible through manmade canyon. Yes! The Mediterranean is there as it has been for eons, since well before humans first walked these rocky hills and cliff-fringed shores.

How is it that a place, none of my known ancestors had ever been to, can feel so connected to me? Like this is my city, my earth, my rocks, my sea, my sky?

I was at a birthday celebration yesterday for a new friend. One of the attendees is a Genovese woman whom I’ve recently met. As all Genovese seem to ask, “Why Genova?”  I responded with the usual… “It is by the sea, full of history, the food, the culture, and has all the amenities that we want and need!”  But I also added, “Though I don’t have a drop of Italian blood, my heart is Italian, and this feels like home!”




Comments

  1. Deb Nance at ReaderbuzzAugust 2, 2026 at 4:08 AM

    My grandpap's family was Italian. Every Sunday as a child, our whole family ate dinner with Grandpap and Grandma, and after dinner, the discussions began. Sometimes we spent hours at the table, eating, enjoying each other's company. When I first visited Europe, that's the experience I loved most, that lingering of the happy moment, especially a moment that involves amazing food. I love this piece, Lori. It's wonderful to feel at home.

    ReplyDelete

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