Dear Mom,

Alex Taylor
Creative Writing English
Non-WMU Program, Italy, Spring 2016

Dear Alex,

I love your posts and pictures. One, because I know you are alive and breathing, and two, because they are freaking awesome. The architecture of the buildings blows my mind.

The last 36 odd hours have been interesting. Grandma and Grandpa were so relieved to hear you were safe. They are very proud of you. Your family is glad to hear you made it.

I miss you and I can’t even imagine how you really feel. Dig deep son, dig to your core like you did when you played baseball. I never thought I’d be prouder then the day you hit your first home run. When it went over the fence- I didn’t think my heart could fill anymore with pride. But I have been proud of you many times since that day. You are my son that has adventure in his heart!

When I look at that picture I took of you walking away at the airport, I wanted to run after you. I wanted to walk with you, but it was time. Time for you Alex! This is your time.

You’ve got this Alex. I now want to follow in your footsteps, son. I want to travel to a beautiful place and draw and write and smell and taste and hear about something so unique. For the first time since I was 19, I want to fulfill my own dreams. Thanks for helping me figure that out.

If you’re scared it’s okay. Reach out to others. I told your girlfriend, who is just as sad as I but equally as proud, that she must be special to get through your built-up walls. You don’t have to be a loner sweetie…

I love you Alex!

Momma’

*****

Dear Mom,

Your words always creep their way through those same walls you mentioned and impact me in ways only a mother could. I was telling a coworker this morning that nothing is impossible if you truly believe you have some kind of self-worth and purpose. My best advice for anybody- set a goal and don’t let any outside source- whether that be a person, life happening in mysterious ways, or even self-doubt brought on by society’s expectations of you- dim down the light shining you in the direction of that goal.

As a human being, we are all born with an itch to travel- some just silence that itch using substances or tie-downs (careers, kids, marriage, health, etc.) as an excuse. Failure is terrifying – trust me. But 99% of people breath their last breaths knowing there was something they could have done in this lifetime differently but didn’t because of fear. My biggest aspiration is to not be one of those people.

It’s now 9 a.m. here on my first morning in Florence and I can’t justify in words the simplicity of waking up at sunrise to walk three minutes to a cafe downtown to drink coffee, eat a pastry, and jot down my truest thoughts. My dreams are all instilled within and just like any other goal- I will not allow outside sources to diminish the hope writing gives me. Just like hitting that home-run and running around the bases with a smile from cheek to cheek, I plan on chasing that self-happiness and becoming a man that you and everybody can be proud to have been apart of creating.

There’s something in the atmosphere over here that makes me ache with desire. I cannot put into words how alone I feel but the difference between being lonely and alone is that being alone means you know other people are somewhere else thinking about you. I have not once felt lonely on this trip. I explained to my girlfriend that the last 2 weeks leading up to my departure I felt as nervous as I did before all my baseball games- standing on the foul line listening to the national anthem and waiting for the game to start so I wouldn’t feel nervous anymore. Sitting in my downtown apartment- I don’t feel nervous anymore. Mom- I made it.

I love you and miss you and think about you every minute you aren’t here with me. I instill a promise that I will document this trip to the best of my abilities and share these experiences with you and everybody else that cares to know what it is like for me- a 20 year old boy who isn’t supposed to be here but who persevered to ensure that I did make it here. I must thank you for this trip becoming a reality and I look forward to showing you the different man I will become upon my arrival back to the states in four months.

With love,

Alex

Categories: Western Europe, Italy, English, College of Arts and Sciences, Family and friends, Fears and excitement, Maintaining relationships, Pre-departure, Significant other, Spring.