#1 Daughter

Growing up as a child I always pictured myself marrying and having two children, a boy and a girl. The arrival of our second child made my childhood dreams a reality; in addition to our son, we now had a sweet little girl looking up at us with these big wide eyes, wondering who we were.

As a tiny baby, toddler, young child, and adult this little baby girl that we named Cynthia loved being right in on all of the action that life had to offer. Not a moment was to be wasted on sleeping and sitting still (unfortunately at times for us) as she might miss out on something fun and exciting to do.

Cyndi, when she was a wee one, was interested in doing the girly things: wearing pretty dresses, playing with Barbie dolls, being Princess Leia, and the like. It was fun to watch her trying to keep up with her big brother and as she was twenty-two months behind him you would think he would have had the advantage, but I am not so sure that this was true most of the time. She would try to bother him as much as she could get away with. Her interests growing up included tap and jazz dancing, a little ballett, and music. She also developed quite an interest in marine biology, especially anything to do with sharks, whales, and dolphins. In her middle and high school years she played french horn in concert band and particated four years in marching band. While in marching band she played mellophone for two years, was in the color guard for one year, and in her senior year took lessons and marched in the drum line, playing the quads.

After graduating from high school and living alone near where she grew up, Cyndi decided to venture a move to Indianapolis, Indiana. There she worked on an ambulance as an emergency medical technician (EMT), getting a real chance to know the city and its residents.

To make a long story short, while planning a vacation to Italy with her Grandmother Abbott, Cyndi corresponded with an Italian named Danilo for travel advice. After meeting Danilo in Italy, followed by many years of telephone calls, trips from here to there and from there to here, and meetings with the family, this Italian stole our daughter's heart and she his.

As you can see from the picture, Cyndi and Danilo are now married. The wedding took place in Italy in a small town next to where they now live. The wedding service was held in a church built in 740 AD. Relatives from the states and friends from Indianapolis flew to Italy for this special occassion. Weeks before and days after the wedding you would find the bunch of us touring from Venice to Naples and anything in between.

Danilo is an architct and teaches art history for middle school students. He is a wonderful person and is a blessing to have in the family. I must also say that Danilo's reading of Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham to our family on Christmas Eve several years ago was wonderful entertainment. I need to mention that this was read to us in Italian and the "us" included parents, grandmas, aunts, uncles, a brother, a sister, and cousins.

When I first met Danilo I said to him "There are three ways of doing things: (1) The right way, (2) the wrong way, and (3), the Cyndi way. The 'Cyndi way' doesn't necessarily mean the right or wrong way." Danilo looked at me with a big question mark on his face, not knowing what I was trying to say. After my last visit to Italy, Danilo asked if I remembered saying that to him and I repied "yes." He then mentioned that he now understands what I meant. For those of you who know Cyndi, you understand, and for those of you getting to know her, someday you will understand.

My mother gave me a saying that reads "A daughter is a little girl who grows up to be your friend." How true this is and how fortunate that my best girlfriend is my loving, wonderful, and treasured daughter.