"
Bologna, 16/5/10
It’s my birthday and I’ve almost forgotten it myself. We climbed the tower and looked over the expansive city. I actually started to like it; forgetting about the mean and always growling locals. After a kebab for lunch, we took a bus to Certosa, the city’s cemetery. Its affect was somber to say the least.
The first steps left an eerie effect. I was covered in a shroud of sadness and reflection. Seeing the dates of those that lived long enough to see their great grandchildren, I felt jealousy or a longing for the same. For those who died younger than myself, I felt sadness and a need to appreciate my life.
I am amazed by the lack of respect Dan-o has here. He walked on graves embedded in the floor and was spitting constantly. I wanted to say something and tell him but just didn’t know how.
Interestingly, it was here that my parents called me from the US to wish me happy birthday, a place where life is an after thought and death is on the foreground. It was humbling to view this. The art sculptures of note could not alter my disposition. Instead, I was more interested in thinking about my own end and what to do until that point. Will people visit my grave? Will I be buried or cremated or what (maybe frozen)?
Dan-o said he wouldn’t want to live that long (90s) only thinking about death and narrowing their existence to: getting up, eating, reading, and watching TV.
'And how is that different from what we do now?' I asked.
Answering my own question I continued internally:
Now is the time not to waste but to seize life and take in each day. Do something constructive, satisfying, and healthy. Do not waste what I have been given and do not limit your dreams and aspirations. Society doesn’t owe you anything and you have to take your life into your own hands, because no one else will. Make it a good life, full of family and friends. One where you are who you want to be."
After a dismal birthday party and one more days in Bologna we head south to Porretta for a wonderful meal (1 city south of Bologna).
No comments:
Post a Comment