Two Worlds

Maria getting ready for her baptism. © Photo by Francesca Di Meglio

Amanda (r.) shows off her bouquet and cousin Nina (l.) at her Confirmation dinner. © Photo by Francesca Di Meglio

From the begging of this summer, my family has been celebrating milestones with its young people. Two of the biggest events we recognized were my niece Maria’s baptism (for photos, visit the “Maria’s Baptism” photo album) in May and my cousin Amanda’s confirmation in June (for photos, visit the “Amanda’s Confirmation” photo album). Both Maria and Amanda made us proud as they conducted themselves beautifully during these important religious moments in their lives.

I guess family has been on my mind because lots of my stories have focused on relatives, too. For the Our Paesani column that I write for ItaliansRus.com and Las Vegas’ La Voce newspaper, I covered “20 Signs Your Italian Man is a Mamma’s Boy,” “Stuff Our Italian Fathers Say,” and “Italian Family Feuds.” Obviously, those of you who know me can be certain that I drew on my own personal experiences – and family – to write these stories. And I even make a funny in the first two. I guess I’m not as serious as you thought!