If you think we sell flowers, you would be wrong.We are not selling roses. We are not selling orchids. We are not selling flowers...period.
What we are selling can be boiled down to two very important things. One is what the Italians refer to as "La Bella Figura" and the second is Trust.
"Bella" translates to beautiful. "Figura", depending on the context can mean, figure, shape, form, picture, illustration.
When our clients place an order, the flowers are most often being sent to someone for a special occasion. They are being sent with a message and as a message. This message can be one of congratulations, one of condolences, one of love. Whatever the reason, the flowers are the messenger. They represent and speak for the client.
It is completely understood on our part that the expectation from the customer is no doubt to make them look good..la bella figura.
This is exactly why we strive to always be the best at what we do. It's because we know what's on the line. Every time. Every occasion. Every recipient. We want you, our customer, to look good.
I learned at a floral conference recently that people do business with who they know, who they like and who they trust (@lisalarter). This resonated with me because of the trust element.
In every aspect of floral needs, whether they are sent to convey a simple thank you or are part of a lavish wedding event, the customer is entrusting us to make sure the results will reflect a Bella Figura on them.
This is a huge responsibility on us and we take it very seriously. At the end of the day, our reputation and our continued success is only as good as the trust we have from our clients. If we lose that trust or take it for granted, we are nothing and we have nothing. This we know and understand completely.
Each and every day, we take our business of selling flowers very personally. Just as personally as the intention is for our customers. Our call centre team responds to every call with attentiveness, making sure to listen to the customer's needs. Our talented designers create every floral arrangement knowing they carry a message of emotional importance. Our drivers handle the gifts to the recipients with delicate care and in a timely fashion. All of these elements are part of what we sell.
We believe we sell more than just flowers. In these beautiful, fragrant and colorful stems are messages which you the client have trusted us to send on your behalf.
So no.. we are not selling flowers. We are selling much more that that and we know it.
In our flowers are your messages so go ahead and, Say it with flowers!
~You can trust us. We will make you look good.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Friday, January 24, 2014
Fighting the January Blues ~Ital Florist
We are in the thick of it. The dreaded January Blues.
As owners of a small business, one of the every day concerns is how to keep team morale up. At Ital Florist our team is made up of people from all walks of life. All from various cultural backgrounds including Jamaica, Japan, England, Portugal, Italy, China and Poland just to name a few. This wonderful mosaic of individuals is a true testament to the multiculturalism that is Canada. Colorful, inclusive and full of life.
Our team works extremely hard... long hours on your feet kind of "hard". At a time like Christmas, they band together and fill thousands of orders for our clients. Over the course of this season, we spend a lot of time together. And we share. We share stories, traditions, gift ideas.. and food; sweets in particular. There is never a shortage of delicious home made sweets and by the time it's all over, the team is complaining about how much weight everyone has gained. In come the January Blues.
To help with this dilemma and to keep team morale up, my brother had a great idea and started The Biggest Loser contest. Anyone who wants to participate puts in $5.00 and weighs in. My brother and I have matched the pot. Every Friday, the participants weigh in (confidentially only to Italo) and by the end of the contest which is on Good Friday April 18, the winner will be announced.
The contest has not only given way to healthier eating habits, but the fun and friendly jokes that have begun are a welcomed distraction from the frigid cold that bellows outside.
This is part of our philosophy. We all have to work. We all have families that depend on us. Every day we come to work together to make a living. But with that also comes a certain responsibility on our part to try and create an atmosphere that is positive. A place where despite the fact that they have to come, they do so and actually like it here. We foster an exchange of mutual respect, constant communication and compassion and sometimes most importantly of all, we try and have FUN.
January will come and go and those blues will pass eventually. With a little creativity and imagination, maybe we can make it pass more memorably, more enjoyably.. and along the way...lose a few pounds too. Bonus!
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go weigh in...YIKES!
As owners of a small business, one of the every day concerns is how to keep team morale up. At Ital Florist our team is made up of people from all walks of life. All from various cultural backgrounds including Jamaica, Japan, England, Portugal, Italy, China and Poland just to name a few. This wonderful mosaic of individuals is a true testament to the multiculturalism that is Canada. Colorful, inclusive and full of life.
Our team works extremely hard... long hours on your feet kind of "hard". At a time like Christmas, they band together and fill thousands of orders for our clients. Over the course of this season, we spend a lot of time together. And we share. We share stories, traditions, gift ideas.. and food; sweets in particular. There is never a shortage of delicious home made sweets and by the time it's all over, the team is complaining about how much weight everyone has gained. In come the January Blues.
To help with this dilemma and to keep team morale up, my brother had a great idea and started The Biggest Loser contest. Anyone who wants to participate puts in $5.00 and weighs in. My brother and I have matched the pot. Every Friday, the participants weigh in (confidentially only to Italo) and by the end of the contest which is on Good Friday April 18, the winner will be announced.
The contest has not only given way to healthier eating habits, but the fun and friendly jokes that have begun are a welcomed distraction from the frigid cold that bellows outside.
This is part of our philosophy. We all have to work. We all have families that depend on us. Every day we come to work together to make a living. But with that also comes a certain responsibility on our part to try and create an atmosphere that is positive. A place where despite the fact that they have to come, they do so and actually like it here. We foster an exchange of mutual respect, constant communication and compassion and sometimes most importantly of all, we try and have FUN.
January will come and go and those blues will pass eventually. With a little creativity and imagination, maybe we can make it pass more memorably, more enjoyably.. and along the way...lose a few pounds too. Bonus!
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go weigh in...YIKES!
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
A Family Affair ~Ital Florist.
We have no business being in the flower business.
It's a long story. Suffice to say, Dad is an accountant by trade and Mom was a teacher. So how did the flowers come into play?
Back in the mid 70's, with three small children, my Dad, like many men back then, needed a part-time job to make some extra money. He started working at a small local flower shop delivering flowers and making house calls for wedding and funeral orders. He was good at it. Actually, he was great. His natural ability to sell what happened to be flowers, was quickly earning him a handsome commission.
In 1976, he would leave his prestigious day job at the bank and embark on what many naysayers believed to be an absurd idea. He opened Ital Florist Ltd. I was 8, my older brother Italo, was 10 and the baby of the family, Evelyn was only 4 years old. It was bold. It was crazy. It was a great move. Today, 38 years later, Ital Florist and its group of companies, reigns supreme in the floral industry.
All of the hard work ethics, the honesty of keeping your word, the fairness towards employees and the overall class act that Mom and Dad passed on to us are still the definition of who we are and what we do.The formula is not a big secret. We work hard, we play fair and we succeed.
With Dad enjoying retirement and Mom having sadly passed on, Italo and I are now at the helm of this ship. The youngest of our sibling trio is successfully keeping the other family business of Teaching alive, making an extraordinary difference in young people's lives every day.
The partnership.
From the beginning it has always been a true family affair. We have no board room, unless you count the "lunch room", we don't have fancy offices, our meetings are very often held around the dinner table, notes are taken on napkins, decisions made after NHL games on TV. It works for us. A brother and sister team, in-laws too get their input, and we all know, we're in it together. Our motto; "What's the worse that can happen?" As long as we have each other's back and all our kids' best interest at heart, we will not fail. Failure is not an option.
My brother and I growing up were always game for a healthy competition. Neither of us like to lose. Not that we're sore losers, but we simply do not see losing as an option...ever. In High School and in University we made it on every sport team and student council possible. We were looked upon from our peers as leaders and we enjoyed taking on the various challenges whether they be academic or athletic. Teachers, principals and friends counted on us to be good examples and we made our parents proud.
We married our high school sweethearts, had big,traditional Italian weddings with lots of food, lots of dancing. We have 5 kids between us, most in University now. We expect a lot from others because we expect a lot from ourselves. We never settle with 2nd place. It's simply not in our nature.
Our parents were go getters. They never waited for the hand out and they certainly never expected someone else to do anything for them and all of this rubbed off on us.We run our business and our partnership with the same philosophy; we're on the same team, playing our positions well and going for the Gold.
Success is never achieved entirely alone. We could not do what we do best without our amazingly dedicated and talented staff, our understanding and supportive spouses, our wise father and our loving sister and so many more significant people on the journey with us.
Today, we are proud to say that we do have every business being in the floral business. Turns out, we're good at it too. Actually, great at it.
~We are your flower experts.
http://www.italflorist.com/about-us.cfm
It's a long story. Suffice to say, Dad is an accountant by trade and Mom was a teacher. So how did the flowers come into play?
Back in the mid 70's, with three small children, my Dad, like many men back then, needed a part-time job to make some extra money. He started working at a small local flower shop delivering flowers and making house calls for wedding and funeral orders. He was good at it. Actually, he was great. His natural ability to sell what happened to be flowers, was quickly earning him a handsome commission.
In 1976, he would leave his prestigious day job at the bank and embark on what many naysayers believed to be an absurd idea. He opened Ital Florist Ltd. I was 8, my older brother Italo, was 10 and the baby of the family, Evelyn was only 4 years old. It was bold. It was crazy. It was a great move. Today, 38 years later, Ital Florist and its group of companies, reigns supreme in the floral industry.
All of the hard work ethics, the honesty of keeping your word, the fairness towards employees and the overall class act that Mom and Dad passed on to us are still the definition of who we are and what we do.The formula is not a big secret. We work hard, we play fair and we succeed.
With Dad enjoying retirement and Mom having sadly passed on, Italo and I are now at the helm of this ship. The youngest of our sibling trio is successfully keeping the other family business of Teaching alive, making an extraordinary difference in young people's lives every day.
The partnership.
From the beginning it has always been a true family affair. We have no board room, unless you count the "lunch room", we don't have fancy offices, our meetings are very often held around the dinner table, notes are taken on napkins, decisions made after NHL games on TV. It works for us. A brother and sister team, in-laws too get their input, and we all know, we're in it together. Our motto; "What's the worse that can happen?" As long as we have each other's back and all our kids' best interest at heart, we will not fail. Failure is not an option.
My brother and I growing up were always game for a healthy competition. Neither of us like to lose. Not that we're sore losers, but we simply do not see losing as an option...ever. In High School and in University we made it on every sport team and student council possible. We were looked upon from our peers as leaders and we enjoyed taking on the various challenges whether they be academic or athletic. Teachers, principals and friends counted on us to be good examples and we made our parents proud.
We married our high school sweethearts, had big,traditional Italian weddings with lots of food, lots of dancing. We have 5 kids between us, most in University now. We expect a lot from others because we expect a lot from ourselves. We never settle with 2nd place. It's simply not in our nature.
Our parents were go getters. They never waited for the hand out and they certainly never expected someone else to do anything for them and all of this rubbed off on us.We run our business and our partnership with the same philosophy; we're on the same team, playing our positions well and going for the Gold.
Success is never achieved entirely alone. We could not do what we do best without our amazingly dedicated and talented staff, our understanding and supportive spouses, our wise father and our loving sister and so many more significant people on the journey with us.
Today, we are proud to say that we do have every business being in the floral business. Turns out, we're good at it too. Actually, great at it.
~We are your flower experts.
http://www.italflorist.com/about-us.cfm
Saturday, July 20, 2013
The distance
It has been some time since my last blog entry. I guess "being too busy" seems a good enough excuse even though that is exactly what it is.. an excuse. I had lunch with a very dear and long time friend the other day and as he politely listened to my Cole's notes version of what had been happening in my life, he asked me."have you ever thought of writing a memoir"? I haven't stopped thinking about it since.
So as my thoughts drifted from excited to are you crazy.. who would want to read your memoir? I realized that my life is not really all that fascinating to me, nor is my history really.. but to my kids, I think it might be. Just as I was intrigued when my mother and father would tell us stories of their past, glued to every word... so might my children be,and one day, maybe my grandchildren as well. For whatever reason, the notion of writing a memoir feels good. It feels right. So.. here goes nothing.. or perhaps something really amazing.
The distance
The distance between Italy and Canada is approximately 6800 kilometers by air, bearing Southeast. The distance between loved ones.. infinitely greater. My father left Italy in May of 1963. My mother followed almost two years later. But before them, my maternal great grandfather Gaetano Russo traveled to New York some time at the turn of the century or early 1900's. He would eventually settle in Rochester, NY with his wife Gaetana, one of his two daughters,Dora and son in law Giuseppe Berardi. The daughter that stayed back in Italy was my grandmother, Evelina. This was the first of many separations that would occur over the next two generations,
Immigration was going to affect my life long before I was ever even a thought.
I don't know exactly why my parents chose Canada. Perhaps in some way, Canada chose them. There were many that went to the USA, Australia, Venezuela but my family would begin most of their adult lives, here in Toronto, Canada and I am happy, most of the time anyway, that they did. Countless times I have thought or tried to imagine what my life would look like had they not come here. Many scenarios have played out in my imagination. But then I realize that it really doesn't matter. Spending time on what could have been and what is, is futile. The important thing I believe is to remember. Remembering where we came from, so we have an idea who we are, that's the important thing. Passing that information on to our children is even more important. Not knowing your history, is like being an oyster with no pearl inside..just an empty shell.
My parents, Eligio Paris and Antonia (Tonina) DiTommaso, unlike many other couples that were married back then, were in love. This may seem a simplistic statement but I know that the fact that they were actually in love and wanted to be married played a huge role in the formative years of life as immigrants. And consequentially, the affect this love would have on their children was exemplary. Building, working, carving a life out in a foreign land was hard. It was hard. And I am so certain that the "being in love" part, was the one thing that kept them sane, kept them focused, kept them from giving up, packing it in and going home. They had each other, they loved each other and they were not going to fail. And they didn't.
My parents' story is typical. They got married, rented an apartment, had their first child.. and worked. Family gatherings on the weekends were sacred. Staying connected with others from back home was like having essential oxygen to survive. Their children would benefit immensely from this need, because the bonds that were formed between cousins was unparalleled to any other bond imaginable. Siblings and cousins were your first best friends. And to this day, the closeness and affection between us runs deep, thanks to those weekends off.
Thanks to our parents, we wanted for nothing. We never felt the pain of hunger, cold, never felt threatened or alone.
But what I do remember feeling is their sadness from the distance of home. The distance was torture. A pain that would never go away. It was there, all the time. And the worse part was when the overwhelming joy of going back to visit, would be squashed and wounds ripped opened again the day they had to say good bye and come back.
The thought of loved ones that were far away, was ever present. Because of this longing, we grew up knowing our family in Italy even without being physically together. They talked about them all the time. Those family members were a part of our lives every day. A connection was nourished from a very young age. Our Italian identity was always a part of our existence. We felt Italian even though we lived 6800 kilometers away. And yet, despite this strong sentiment, we were also instilled with a love for Canada. I do not remember one negative word my parents ever uttered about their decision to be here. Their love for this country was one of commitment and gratitude and we knew it. We always felt it. They made us proud Canadians with a strong Italian heritage.
My sister arrived in Italy today. To visit. To share. To be with loved ones. When I hung up the telephone, after saying a few words to everyone celebrating her arrival in my Zia Linda's joyful home,.. the pain of distance came over me like a raging torrent. From 6800 kilometers away, I cried. Joyful and sad all rolled up into one big overwhelming emotion. Cherishing the time we have with one another is always important. Treasuring and passing on the memories we make from afar, is like discovering that shiny, exqusite, unique pearl in the oyster. Simply amazing.
So as my thoughts drifted from excited to are you crazy.. who would want to read your memoir? I realized that my life is not really all that fascinating to me, nor is my history really.. but to my kids, I think it might be. Just as I was intrigued when my mother and father would tell us stories of their past, glued to every word... so might my children be,and one day, maybe my grandchildren as well. For whatever reason, the notion of writing a memoir feels good. It feels right. So.. here goes nothing.. or perhaps something really amazing.
The distance
The distance between Italy and Canada is approximately 6800 kilometers by air, bearing Southeast. The distance between loved ones.. infinitely greater. My father left Italy in May of 1963. My mother followed almost two years later. But before them, my maternal great grandfather Gaetano Russo traveled to New York some time at the turn of the century or early 1900's. He would eventually settle in Rochester, NY with his wife Gaetana, one of his two daughters,Dora and son in law Giuseppe Berardi. The daughter that stayed back in Italy was my grandmother, Evelina. This was the first of many separations that would occur over the next two generations,
Immigration was going to affect my life long before I was ever even a thought.
I don't know exactly why my parents chose Canada. Perhaps in some way, Canada chose them. There were many that went to the USA, Australia, Venezuela but my family would begin most of their adult lives, here in Toronto, Canada and I am happy, most of the time anyway, that they did. Countless times I have thought or tried to imagine what my life would look like had they not come here. Many scenarios have played out in my imagination. But then I realize that it really doesn't matter. Spending time on what could have been and what is, is futile. The important thing I believe is to remember. Remembering where we came from, so we have an idea who we are, that's the important thing. Passing that information on to our children is even more important. Not knowing your history, is like being an oyster with no pearl inside..just an empty shell.
My parents, Eligio Paris and Antonia (Tonina) DiTommaso, unlike many other couples that were married back then, were in love. This may seem a simplistic statement but I know that the fact that they were actually in love and wanted to be married played a huge role in the formative years of life as immigrants. And consequentially, the affect this love would have on their children was exemplary. Building, working, carving a life out in a foreign land was hard. It was hard. And I am so certain that the "being in love" part, was the one thing that kept them sane, kept them focused, kept them from giving up, packing it in and going home. They had each other, they loved each other and they were not going to fail. And they didn't.
My parents' story is typical. They got married, rented an apartment, had their first child.. and worked. Family gatherings on the weekends were sacred. Staying connected with others from back home was like having essential oxygen to survive. Their children would benefit immensely from this need, because the bonds that were formed between cousins was unparalleled to any other bond imaginable. Siblings and cousins were your first best friends. And to this day, the closeness and affection between us runs deep, thanks to those weekends off.
Thanks to our parents, we wanted for nothing. We never felt the pain of hunger, cold, never felt threatened or alone.
But what I do remember feeling is their sadness from the distance of home. The distance was torture. A pain that would never go away. It was there, all the time. And the worse part was when the overwhelming joy of going back to visit, would be squashed and wounds ripped opened again the day they had to say good bye and come back.
The thought of loved ones that were far away, was ever present. Because of this longing, we grew up knowing our family in Italy even without being physically together. They talked about them all the time. Those family members were a part of our lives every day. A connection was nourished from a very young age. Our Italian identity was always a part of our existence. We felt Italian even though we lived 6800 kilometers away. And yet, despite this strong sentiment, we were also instilled with a love for Canada. I do not remember one negative word my parents ever uttered about their decision to be here. Their love for this country was one of commitment and gratitude and we knew it. We always felt it. They made us proud Canadians with a strong Italian heritage.
My sister arrived in Italy today. To visit. To share. To be with loved ones. When I hung up the telephone, after saying a few words to everyone celebrating her arrival in my Zia Linda's joyful home,.. the pain of distance came over me like a raging torrent. From 6800 kilometers away, I cried. Joyful and sad all rolled up into one big overwhelming emotion. Cherishing the time we have with one another is always important. Treasuring and passing on the memories we make from afar, is like discovering that shiny, exqusite, unique pearl in the oyster. Simply amazing.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Caro Direttore....
IL CENTRO GIOVEDÌ 22 NOVEMBRE 2012
Gli emigrati che
sognano la casetta e trovano l’Imu
Caro Direttore,
la maggioranza degli emigranti che tornano in Italia a trascorrere
le vacanze d'estate o a passare il Natale con i parenti d'inverno sono quei pochi fortunati ai quali i genitori, per
mera riconoscenza, hanno lasciato un buco di casa. Sì, è la casa che ti fa
tornare. Sono quelle mura, quelle scale, quegli angoli che ti hanno visto
crescere e poi partire che ti fanno tornare.E torni per ritrovarti bambino,per
essere sovrastato e soffocato dai ricordi,a volte torni solamente per piangere.
Difficilmente torna l'emigrante al quale il vano di casa non gli è stato
lasciato, "lui sta bene in America", e non torna per non parlarne,
per non rivivere i torti e i dispiaceri subiti che solo il tempo e la
lontananza sono riusciti a sopire.
Chi vuole far pagare l'IMU alla casa dell'emigrante, considerate
come seconda casa,non e' andato mai a cercare lavoro e fortuna altrove,non ha mai
lasciato l'Italia e non sa che la seconda casa e' quella che l'emigrante ha costruito
all'estero cosi' come la terra che lo ospita sara' sempre la sua seconda
patria.
I sindaci della Valle Peligna, quelli dellaMarsica e tutti i
sindaci d'Abruzzo, anziche' tassare le
case degli emigranti dovrebbero pensare invece a trovare incentivi,programme e attivita'
varie per incoraggiare gli emigranti a
tornare piu' spesso e piu' a lungo. Mi fermo qui, qualche altra
volta ne parleremo piu' a lungo.
Eligio Paris, Toronto
n
Questa lettera è arrivata
da uno dei tanti abruzzesi emigrati in Canada (anche Sergio Marchionne è tra
questi) dopo il bell’articolo pubblicato in prima pagina dal nostro DomenicoRanieri.
Il tema è la sorpresa di chi si trova a pagare un’Imu stratosferica sulla
vecchia casetta di famiglia , tassata come seconda abitazione (e quindi come bene
di lusso) nonostante che quasi sempre si tratti di due stanze in edifici
vecchie acciaccati.
C’è una logica in tutto questo? Per chi
vive a migliaia di chilometri di distanza, l’unica logica leggibile è quella di
unPaese disperato, che cerca di arraffare soldi dove può per evitare di finire
nel baratro che ha più volte sfiorato.Ovviamente il risultato di questa
stangata fiscale sarà che molti metteranno in
vendita la vecchia casetta abruzzese,recidendo anche gli ultimi legami con una terra
che non sempre è stata con loro generosa.
Non so voi, ma io provo un po’ di vergogna nei
confronti di questa gente.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
La La Land
As time moves forward, whether we like it or not, we are in a continued state of learning. Until our dying day, I believe we "learn" something or realize something that we just didn't know or understand or realize the day before.
The other night sitting around the table with family and friends, a gender based discussion began to take shape. Someone, irrelevant of who that was, brought up the book "50 Shades of Grey" and the simple mentioning of this book sparked total chaos with the males. What ensued next was what I shall forever take as a huge learning experience for myself and my own personal learning journey.
Let me premise my "light bulb going on" experience by stating that I have not read the book. My enlightening moment really has nothing to do with the context of this infamous book at all. It's what was said that made me realize something I hadn't before.
One of the men firmly and with great conviction said, "You guys (women) live in La La Land..."
There it was. La La Land. We've heard this term mentioned many times before but that evening it sounded different. This... La La Land. Where is it? Contrary to what was said, I certainly don't live there. But what I realized more importantly is that I want to. YES, I want to live in La La Land and what was even more stunning to me was the question that struck me straight in the forehead .. "Don't we all?"
All that we strive for in our every day existence and all of our every day efforts, are they not all toward the hopes and desires to get to La La Land?
I want to go there. I want to live there every day. I would love to go there and stay there with my husband and my children mostly, but also with everyone that I love.
La La Land is an amazing place. I know because I'm certain I have had glimpses of it over the years. It's where everything and everyone is on the same page; where we are all happy and in synch; where the intimate moments are mind blowing and where food and wine taste succulent; where dancing is euphoric.
It's where laughing hurts your side and cheeks, and it's definitely where we believe in each other, care for each other, compliment one another and look after each other with absolutely no room for Tit for Tat.
In the movie Jerry Maguire, I think they call it "The Quan". Yes, that' s it. The Quan or..La La Land.
We all want to live there. Every single one of us. And the most beautiful thing of all is that we can.
We can get there, we can live there and we can stay there as long as we want.
Sadly, however, most of us have been made to believe that we don't deserve La La Land. We are not worthy of it's incredible gifts. It's simply ridiculous to try and get there let alone live there.
Somewhere along our learning journey, we were told or agreed to believe that La La Land is not for us.
It's for those other people.
For the record, I do want to live there. And I will try every day of my life to learn more about how to get there and more importantly how to stay there as long as possible.
Yes, I am worth it. We are worth it. I will try to do all that I can to achieve La La Land.
I hope to see you there.
The other night sitting around the table with family and friends, a gender based discussion began to take shape. Someone, irrelevant of who that was, brought up the book "50 Shades of Grey" and the simple mentioning of this book sparked total chaos with the males. What ensued next was what I shall forever take as a huge learning experience for myself and my own personal learning journey.
Let me premise my "light bulb going on" experience by stating that I have not read the book. My enlightening moment really has nothing to do with the context of this infamous book at all. It's what was said that made me realize something I hadn't before.
One of the men firmly and with great conviction said, "You guys (women) live in La La Land..."
There it was. La La Land. We've heard this term mentioned many times before but that evening it sounded different. This... La La Land. Where is it? Contrary to what was said, I certainly don't live there. But what I realized more importantly is that I want to. YES, I want to live in La La Land and what was even more stunning to me was the question that struck me straight in the forehead .. "Don't we all?"
All that we strive for in our every day existence and all of our every day efforts, are they not all toward the hopes and desires to get to La La Land?
I want to go there. I want to live there every day. I would love to go there and stay there with my husband and my children mostly, but also with everyone that I love.
La La Land is an amazing place. I know because I'm certain I have had glimpses of it over the years. It's where everything and everyone is on the same page; where we are all happy and in synch; where the intimate moments are mind blowing and where food and wine taste succulent; where dancing is euphoric.
It's where laughing hurts your side and cheeks, and it's definitely where we believe in each other, care for each other, compliment one another and look after each other with absolutely no room for Tit for Tat.
In the movie Jerry Maguire, I think they call it "The Quan". Yes, that' s it. The Quan or..La La Land.
We all want to live there. Every single one of us. And the most beautiful thing of all is that we can.
We can get there, we can live there and we can stay there as long as we want.
Sadly, however, most of us have been made to believe that we don't deserve La La Land. We are not worthy of it's incredible gifts. It's simply ridiculous to try and get there let alone live there.
Somewhere along our learning journey, we were told or agreed to believe that La La Land is not for us.
It's for those other people.
For the record, I do want to live there. And I will try every day of my life to learn more about how to get there and more importantly how to stay there as long as possible.
Yes, I am worth it. We are worth it. I will try to do all that I can to achieve La La Land.
I hope to see you there.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Una Dedica Speciale
Si dice che quando conosci una persona per la prima volta, ti danno una prima impressione che rimane con te per sempre.
La prima volta che io ho avuto il grande piacere di conoscere le due persone che sarebbero diventati i miei suoceri, l’impressione mia puo essere descritta come un incontro… caloroso, sincero, vero, speciale.
Vittorio e Maria sono proprio cosi’ non solo con me, ma con tutti coloro che hanno il piacere di conoscerli. Sono, infatti, calorosi, sinceri, veri, e speciali ed insieme, queste due persone care, hanno riuscito, nonostante i tanti osstacoli che tutti i matrimoni incontrano , ad essere marito, moglie e genitori esemplari per tutti i loro figli e nipoti.
Sposati tanti anni insieme, facendo dei sacrifici veri per tirare avanti e crescere una famiglia in un paese dove la lingua e l’ambiente sono stati molti diversi dalla loro Roccabernarda ,non e’ stato affatto facile … ma Maria e Vittorio, compiuti 50 anni insieme, possono dire con orgoglio, che… c’e l’hanno fatta!
In questo mondo di oggi, la vita puo essere molto complicata; piena di stress e preoccupazioni. Questo e’ la realta’ per tutti noi. Io, insieme a , Gaetano, Maria, Vince, Diana, Vittorio, Josie, Vittorio, Tonina, Pietro, Dominque Rae ed Emma Rose ci uniamo a ringraziare i nostri genitori, Vittorio e Maria, per tutto cio’ che hanno fatto e continuano tutt’ora a fare per rendere la nostra vita, meno complicata, meno stressante, meno preoccupante.
Grazie per il vostro esempio buono, i vostri consigli saggi ed onesti e piu di tutto, per il vostro amore e affetto sincero e senza condizioni.
Auguri Infiniti e Congratulazioni per il vostro 50esimo anniversario di matrimonio
Vi vogliamo un mondo di bene!
Tutti i vostri figli e nipoti.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)