a day in your life

so many things are happening in the world on this ordinary day. it is 4:30 in the afternoon, i am on the bus, coming to get you from school. as i ride the bus though, this country that we live in continues to deteriorate.  many say that italy has fallen from grace and it is true.  though i can't remember when life in italy was good. maybe we have to go back all the way to the roman empire? even then there was poverty, slavery, and corrupt politicians whose ends were purely selfish. i'm not sure that this low point in italian history is a even a point at all. it seems to me more of a never-ending slide down hill; where the only people who don't continue towards the bottom are those who climb on top of others to save themselves. i don't see this as a reversible process. Italian culture surely has its positive aspects but the negative ones will not soon change. i came to this country for all of its beauty, but the older i get, the uglier it becomes.  This may all sound depressing, but any immigrant could probably write these same lines about their adopted country.

it is inevitable that the older you get, more of the world reveals itself to you and you find that it isn't all that pretty. as a 30 something and your mother, i am now trying to pick through the reality that has always been around me to find the bright spots.  you are one of them. your innocence and unbounded love for those around you  give me hope. the world's financial crisis, climaxed in 2008, is still making us all feel its weight four years later; the civil war in syria that is killing thousands a day; the dishonesty and self-serving of politicians in Italy and all over the world are only some of the things that  could make you think the world is caving in on itself.  though we live in a country where a civil society barely exists we are fortunate to live in a nice home, have nice jobs and enjoy family and friends. take heart in these things when it seems like the world has been turned upside down.