Como, Italy to Forli, Italy

  Today was a very special day for our dad, as he was reunited with his brother after two years. Our uncle “Sato” recently turned 90 and along with our aunt Tanina raised an incredible family of our cousins on the Adriatic coast of Italy. Our dad and uncle, along with there sisters grew up during WWII in Sicily…I’ve been lucky to witness our dad and his brother reunite a few times and the bond between them is always clear and strong.  
   
It was a very emotional meeting at a beautiful restaurant in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy, a restaurant our entire family reunited at 2 years ago. Our dad and Zio (uncle) reminisced about old times and discussed thefamilies that they raised. We dined on amazing dishes from this area: three pasta dishes as the first course, florentine steak and mixed grilled meat for the second course and various dolce for dessert. I’ve been lucky enough to visit and eat in a lot of different places, THIS may be my favorite place to eat on the planet.  

   During dinner I made great friends with the cutest dinner guest, Bianca, my cousin Francesca’s beautiful little daughter. I taught her how to take a “selfie” and we were best buddies.  
   It was a humbling and blessed time to be able to reconnect with this part of our family! Our parents, especially our dad, had a wonderful and happy time. It is amazing to watch the different generations of Ascanio families get together, and while there may be a bit of a language barrier, we always have fun and the love is undeniable.