“The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.” —Elizabeth Foley

As I reminisced over photos captured last May,

while visiting Italy with friends...

drawn together by four years of planning and attending

 high school events...

I ponder the natural growth of friendships... 

 pulled together during a season of life no more.

Unlike these women whose afternoon chat
 requires a walk outside...

our get togethers require patience and tenacity,
with multiple emails, schedules inspected and tweaked...
for a date available for the majority.

So, even though all could not make it...

we rented an amazing apartment in a large villa outside of Siena...

flew to Rome where an Italian man named Lelo was waiting

to deliver us to our home away from home.

 Along the way, he introduced us to Luciano...
(you must pronounce it correctly...
Lu-chee-a-no)

where we bought the freshest ingredients...

for our first feast al fresco.

Even with jet lag,

it didn't take long to discover the beauty of friends
 making an effort to stay connected. 

More of our adventures on the way...