Gonna love...no matter where I am

Not sure if there’s a vast difference in my two worlds. The one in Sardinia, an island in the Mediterranean Sea. And the one in Minnesota, on the shore of Forest Lake. By the end of the day on March 30, I’ll be back in Minnesota, for the first time since early November. And it’s gonna seem like a different world. Though both places are on the planet Earth. But the natives speak different languages. Italian. English. And the terrain isn’t the same. And I’ll be surrounded by a different cast of characters. Though they are all human beings.  Anyway, I like the movement. Back and forth. Between Italy and America. Gives me a better perspective of the world. I like the Italian way of life. It proceeds at a slower pace than in America. And Italy is Italy. Look in the phone book or at the names on tombstones, and they’re virtually all Italian. In America, one encounters all sorts of nationalties. Italian. French. English. German. Scandinavian. African. Spanish. Mexican. Asian. You name it. A hodge-podge. A blend. From all over the world. That’s something nice about America. On the other hand, America has been and still is racist. A nation that was built on a shameful legacy of slavery and discrimination against black people and women. But at the same time America was assimilating many nationalities. A paradox. America has been spectacularly great and outrageously shameful. All at the same time. Maybe that goes for all countries. In different ways. Italians, too, have reasons to be proud and ashamed  of their history.  Same goes for individuals. You, me, everyone. Maybe that’s what I’m learning. That we all live in the same world. Things could be better. Things could be worse. As for me, I’m gonna love and savor life. No matter where I am. –Jim Broede