Siobhan

Why am I so terrified?  It is just a phone number.  You dial it and someone answers.

Where did I get this number, you ask?  Oh, that story begins with homesickness.  Like all of my stories from the beginning of Italy do.  I was homesick for Halloween, of all things.  So I went to the market.  I stood there stupidly until I watched enough people take a ticket to know that standing in line was an idiotic thing to do.  I was the only person who was buying a pumpkin for carving rather than soup.  Then I heard someone speak English.  As I always did in Pecetto, I immediately sought out the human making those sounds and struck up a conversation.  It lead to her giving me the number of a coworker who was looking for friends.

The coworker's name was Siobhan.  I finally dialed her number.  She answered and we had a good chat.  She sounded so friendly and so nice.  However, I knew that our cultures were a little different (Irish + Mormon).  What if she drank all the time?  What if she only wanted to party? What if she was a cool person (those and I don't get along much-not like unique=cool but a person who is literally 2 cool for school)? What if she thought I was stupid?  What if she got too clingy and I suffocated from friendship?  What if she watched movies that I absolutely hated?  These are the things I worry about when making new friends.

I remember walking up her stairs the first time and seeing such a beautiful blonde.  Her Irish accent rang delightfully throughout the seven times I had to ask her to pronounce her name.  (Sh-iv-on).  It turns out, the first night we hung out we watched a mutual all time favorite (French Kiss).  Turns out, she was really accepting of all types of people (even non-drinking Mormon friends who were a little timid about exploring the Torino world).    Turns out, we loved so many of the same movies.  Turns out, she had lived an exciting life full of so many destinations from which she had come and gone.  Turns out, making that phone call gave me a friend who didn't know me for very long, but still housed me when my job as an au pair fell through.  Turns out, the more she drank the wiser she got.   Long chats with her when I was desperate and lost still sound in my ears when I feel myself getting anywhere near the darkness of fear.  She was so kind to me.  She had such beautiful hopes and dreams, most of which involved finding a soul mate and getting married.  Today, that dream came true.  I saw videos and pictures go up of a wedding in Torino of one of the humans in this world who has literally saved my life.  My heart could not be fuller.  Congratulations my wonderful friend!  Tanti Auguri!!!