My son Francesco, my third child, graduated
last August in physics. It was hard, a big commitment and we are very proud of
him. He attained a big goal and though it was stressful at times, he succeeded
at the end and completed his master. We tried to support him as much as
possible attending some parents’ events at his college, Somerville, and
visiting him from time to time. In a way we are happy it has ended, and ended
well.
Only my husband and I could attend the
graduation ceremony at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford. The rest of the family
had to follow it on my computer sitting on a bench in the garden of Somerville
college as no rooms or other kind of venues or areas were available for them.
Luckily, it was a dry warm day. The ceremony was in Latin pronounced with an
English accent and there was a lot of bowing, coming out and going into the
hall in groups. We smiled when they mispronounced my son's surname (D'Antino
instead of D'Antonio). After my son there was another Italian graduate, whose
surname was not mispronounced as it happened to be Mussolini. The gown was
lovely, all black with embroidered sleeves. We took plenty of photos and
celebrated with my son’s friends at our favourite Italian restaurant, La
Cucina. The air conditioning didn’t work so well but the food was gorgeous. We
had various antipasti (starters), a main dish, such as orecchiette cime di rapa
(pasta ears with greens), pappardelle con anatra (wide pasta ribbons with duck
sauce), calzone pizza (half calzone and half pizza), tagliata di manzo (steak
cut rib eye) and cod fillet. For desserts we had tiramisu, panna cotta, lemon
sorbet, ricotta cheesecake and walnut chocolate brownies. Everything was super delicious.
At the restaurant, we also had a good time with my son’s friends including the
family of one of his friends who graduated on the same day and joined us for
dinner.
Studying at Oxford university was demanding;
we are so happy that my son completed his studies without major issues and with
good results. He was happy at the end and planned long holidays in southern
France, northern Italy, Rome and Ricetto, a little village in the area of Rieti
(Lazio) where my parents in law spend their summer time. In this way, he spent
time with his friends but also visited his roots in Friuli, Ricetto and Rome.
He hiked in the Alps, in Forni Avoltri (Udine area in Friuli), and worked in
his grandfather’s vegetable garden or collected mushrooms in the woods when he
was in Ricetto. He came back home relaxed, ready to start his new life,
probably planning to teach his subjects but also nurturing his hobbies and
interests, that is, painting, writing and reading philosophy.
Having all my family for a week for the graduation
was a big treat. We also visited the astounding Kew Gardens and saw the
beautiful exhibition of glass sculptures by Dale Chihuly on display throughout
the gardens. My parents in law loved it, especially my mother in law who has a
passion for flowers and trees and knows all their names. It was a sunny day;
Chihuly’s sculptures glowed in the light with their bright organic shapes. I
wrote a review on the exhibition while I was in Italy which was published by
London Grip, here is the link: https://londongrip.co.uk/2019/09/chihuly-reflections-on-nature-review-by-carla-scarano/?wppa-occur=1&wppa-cover=0&wppa-album=158&wppa-photo=2657
My daughter, who had come from Japan for the
occasion, spent one more week with us which was another big treat as we miss her
so much. Hopefully, she will come back home in about a year. It was wonderful
to spend time with all my family for such a happy circumstance that we
celebrated with good chats, interesting outings, delicious food and a lot of laughs.
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