This article is dedicated to my Italian Fairy Godparents who have worked alongside me in helping to make my dreams come true…
Have you ever had a moment when you are not sure why, but you just know an interaction you had with a person could be impactful? Perhaps you don’t realize, but you get a feeling then later look back on in awe of its impact. I’ve had about five, at least of which I could remember. Four of which occurred in Italy.
Living long term on the Amalfi Coast was something I never considered possible. However, the idea of even visiting seemed like nothing more than a dream reserved solely for celebrities or those of greater wealth. My first time on the coast was intoxicating. After only a day there (September 15th, 2021), I sent a message to my mother saying, “I would like to move to the town and become a member of this community.” In reality the entire town seemed to behave more as an extended family. Frequently, my thoughts reverted back to the perfect little town of Atrani. So after eight months, I returned. I was almost surprised to find it still existed, as though it could have all just been a dream or a mythical land I had entered by mistake. Naturally, the four day trip I made with my mother wasn’t enough, so I convinced a friend to return with me the following weekend. By the end of May nearly every place was rented; and Atrani being one of the smallest towns in Italy, is already limited in housing options. I began to accept defeat as I had already sought out all of our lodging options. At around midnight, I made one last attempt. I noticed an apartment that within minutes had just been listed on Airbnb. As a result, it had no reviews. I needed to trust the woman listing it that it was in fact all that she said it was. Spoiler alert, it wasn’t…it was far more.
I stood in the town’s center with my friend waiting for the apartment’s owner, Rosella. She came in like a rocket and led us up the stairs and through the narrow path to the apartment. She spoke to us of the town and explained it was the first time she was renting the apartment. She and her husband had lived in it for the last 20 years but had recently purchased a new home after having adopted two babies from Bolivia the previous summer. I remember being almost shocked by how warm and friendly she was, even though this was one of the characteristics I loved most about being in the South. In Amalfi, it is nearly impossible for you to go anywhere without at least one person saying hello. In Florence, I could go days without talking to people. Our time went fast during our visit; and ironically before leaving, perhaps by fate, I ran into Rosella once more with her two children. I told her how much I enjoyed our stay in her apartment and thanked her for her hospitality. She said she was happy to have met me and happy I was the first person to stay in her apartment. I wasn’t sure why, but I immediately felt in my soul that moment between us was impactful. I silently cried nearly the entire ride back to Florence, as I had done every time I left the coast. As always, my time there remained in my thoughts as I played with the idea of a life there since the first time I saw it. Six hours of travel and tears later, I finally had the courage to write Rossella.
I couldn’t pay what Rosella was asking for her apartment, but I hoped she and her husband would take pity on a student with the promise of taking care of their sacred home and the convenience of a long term rental. Then I let the idea go. Because despite how badly I wanted it, I knew there was nothing more I could do. Late that night when I accepted it might have only been a pipe dream, Rosella wrote me saying they would agree to my offer. As excited and happy as I was, I almost couldn’t believe it was true until I arrived. Rosella was picking up her kids from school and sent her husband, Roberto, to meet me at the ferry and to help me with transportation of my bags to the town. I immediately experienced the same warmth in his heart that I had felt with Rosella. Again, when I met her in the center, she greeted me with a hug and a kiss hello. She placed one of her children on my lap as we rode the rest of the way to the apartment. She left me with cookies and pasta and sauce and a pear marmellata (jam) she had made herself. She then shuffled me up to her home along with her children to come in for a caffè. She told me to bring her my sheets so she could wash and dry them without me having to worry. The next day they invited me to spend their Saturday with them on the beach. Rosella packed me a panino and Roberto offered to buy me a dolce with his other babies. As we swam, we spoke about my difficulties obtaining my citizenship. Immediately, they both went into problem solving mode in an attempt to help me in any way they could. That generosity of thought and action has not stopped since.
Rossella is fit and skinny from constantly running around. She has a warm smile like honey but looks like she could hurt someone who crossed her. (Ha! I think that’s her Napoletana roots.) Roberto is tall, which makes him exceptionally tall for being an Italian. The day I returned to the town to work on the Equalizer film they were shooting in Atrani, he came and collected me with his moto, throwing my suitcase in between the two of us. I felt like Harry being taken by Hagrid back into my little world of magic, where dreams like working on a big movie in my favorite little town were possible. Roberto was the first person to ever take me on a moto; and while I was so afraid my knuckles turned white from holding on so tightly, there was no one I trusted more than him. In times of trouble, Roberto has always come to collect me with his scooter, and Rosella has taken multiple trips with me to the questura. Anyone who knows the Italian bureaucratic system, knows those trips can last for hours. My favorite characteristic about the two of them is their ability to bring light and laughter to a stressful or boring situation. After we entered the questura, Rosella was making friends, holding people’s babies and getting the workers to laugh. Some of them looked as though they had not laughed since they started working there. In Italian, the word “solare” means sunny or cheerful; but it is more than that, it is the way the sun radiates beams of light. They use this word quite often. It is the word I would use to describe her, “solare”.
Rossella and Roberto work with rental properties and own a shop in Amalfi called, L’altra Costiera. Many shops in Amalfi sell the same souvenirs. I say sincerely the pieces sold at L’altra Costiera are as unique and colorful as the owners. Walking through their shop is like walking through an art gallery, and it’s of no surprise since many of their works are actually from artists that have been featured in museums and galleries. Each product to be sold is carefully curated by their attentive eyes and love for art and people. They are extreme caretakers to say the least. They always take the time to explain each piece of art and work to find it the right home where it will be appreciated.
Eating with the family is my opportunity for a home cooked meal. Rossella claims she has only just started cooking in the recent years for the babies, but you can always taste the love in a mother’s cooking. After each meal and before the cafè, she will skillfully peel and slice an apple, dividing it evenly between us at the table. Everything Rossella and Roberto do for one child, they will do for the other. If they tickle one or hold one, the second will say, “Anche io” or also me, and they immediately turn without reluctance, making sure each child feels equally loved. I think about how new parents with their first children can struggle to find a rhythm; but with their compassion, it’s as if their role as parents was always destined.
These two people give everything they have and ask nothing in return. They opened their arms and showed me unconditional love when at times I felt as a foreigner I wasn’t worthy. Any divide I had ever felt was completely dissolved in their presence, even when I struggled with the language barrier. Before I went to Atrani, I prayed or manifested the community would accept me and that I would have friends who supported and loved me. I was granted that tenfold through the two of them. Above all they gave me a family and a home away from home. On September 15th, 2023, I finally gained my citizenship, thanks to their help. Roberto hugged me while Rossella waved my papers in the air over her head running back and forth. She cried tears of joy. My victory was their victory. What better friends or rather “family by fate”, could I have by my side.
