One Dozen New Log Cabins

 

I’ve known Carolyn since her children and mine were youngsters. She told me about the Italian mission she served, and about the years she and Val spent raising their young family in Milan. Carolyn’s daughters were my piano students for years. As they were both fluent in Italian, they taught me the real meanings of several of the Italian musical terms I’ve used all my life. They told me when a Italian child loses a tooth, the tooth is left on the mantle for the tooth mouse. And they taught me about the Befana; the witch who delivers gift on the eve of the epiphany. For many years I practiced making panettone so I could bring it to their home every January 6. It’s a complicated, time-consuming recipe, but it distracted me from the emptiness that hits at the end of the holidays. Carolyn’s been gone two epiphanies now. I’ll miss her always, but especially the first week of January.