(not necessarily in that order)
Not a great or a posed photo. But the three siblings were laughing and enjoying each other’s company so much that I simply had to try and capture the moment.
It’s times like these that make the time and energy expended on the journey feel totally worth it.
Yesterday was about connecting.
We had lunch with all the members of Ramesha’s family who currently live in Switzerland (father, brother, sister and brother-in-law, niece and boyfriend) at a pizzeria in Lugano Centro.
We very much enjoyed our first “official” pizza of this year’s trip…and boy was it good!
Then in the evening we had dinner with the Lo Menzo family — Dudo, Karin, Samuele, and Lia. They’re some of my favorite people on the planet; unfortunately, we laugh so much when we’re together that I almost always forget to take any pictures. 😂
Blessings galore for a new year filled to overflowing with love, light, laughter, abundance, health, friendship, and JOY!
This evening we had dinner with friends in their beautiful new home. There was laughter and sharing; there was delicious food and a incredible array of desserts.
To cap it all off, one of our hosts suggested watching “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” — and it was just exactly what I was needing in the midst of this busy week — to relax and chuckle and resonate with the heart-opening message of this enduring holiday classic.
Tonight we made time for dinner with some dear friends.
We were three couples, who ate, shared, told stories, and ate some more.
But most of all, we laughed. There was so much joy in simply being together.
I feel extremely fortunate in my friends.
I’ve been greatly enjoying all the hugs and laughter of connecting with friends (old and new) here at Ananda Assisi.
On the other hand, I’m also feeling deeply exhausted.
It seemed rather surprising until I took a moment to list all the people I’ve connected with in the past two days: it comes to over fifty!
No wonder I’m feeling burnt out.
Today — from start to finish — was about catching up with friends from Ananda Assisi we hadn’t seen in years.
I feel like we did about a month’s worth of connecting in one long day.
We enjoyed Sunday service, laughed a lot, exchanged many hugs, shared news, and also sang. An altogether lovely day.
Today’s photo is of Ramesha and his brother, Fulvio, whose birthday was today.
For the first time in seventeen years we’re actually in Switzerland and able to celebrate Fulvio’s birthday in person. We all went out to dinner as a family, eating great food and having a whole lot of fun.
In fact, I haven’t laughed so much in a long time.
These dear friends are to “blame” for tonight’s abbreviated blog post.
We spent the evening eating and sharing and laughing, which meant that Ramesha and I got home rather late.
Of course, it was great fun and well worth it.
I feel this is the perfect way to end my rather up and down week. After all, laughter is good for both body and soul.
Hope everyone reading this has a lovely weekend.