In time, Silvio would return to Tuscany and I to Casa Amor. I was finally going to reach a pinnacle in my life that could not be understated. I was going to be married and living in the home that I had longed for, for years.

I made the offer in September. Since cash was an option to close on the real estate in question, I would be able to close quickly and move in as soon as Silvio would approve and vacate the premises. I was in no hurry and neither was he. I was still grieving from the loss of my father, but I would soon be grieving in the most wonderful place on earth. In my mind, Casa Amor was heaven on earth.

Silvio and I closed in late October. Since it was an all cash deal, the negotiations and transfers were nil and the deal funded and closed smoothly. I knew that I would be settled in by Christmas, and hopefully at that point in a holiday mood. I reasoned that it was possible, but it was going to be tough. On one hand, it was a place that I longed to be more than any other place in the world. On the other, I would be without Mom and Dad this year. I hoped and prayed that both of the children would be home for Christmas.

November came and went. Since neither Liam nor Isabella could come in for Thanksgiving, Brad and I ate out. I saw no sense in making a large dinner for just the two of us. We were to be married after the New Year in March. With my eightieth birthday in February, I wanted the wedding to be before then. "Who gets married at eighty", I pondered? Well, with the exception of a month, I was on the docket.

With Dad gone, Belle in Atlanta and Liam in Connecticut, I poured all of my heart and soul into my relationship with Brad and my new book. Before the death of my father, I was twenty-five percent complete. By November, I was fifty and I had high hopes that the book would be finished by March/April and be in the hands of readers that summer.