Every Thursday I post a quote or thought for all of us to ponder. Today’s quotes are:
“Burning desire to see or do something gives us staying power-a reason to get up every morning or to pick ourselves up and start in again after a disappointment.”–Marsha Sinetar
“Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything.”–Napoleon Hill (1883-1970)
Today was my first appointment at the Italian Consulate Office in Chicago to apply for dual citizenship with Italy. I have never sat in more uncomfortable seats in my life. They were metal bars on the seats and backs that left deep creases in my body. There was a steady stream of people arriving for visas, passports, citizenship and other things.
If I did not have a strong desire to acquire dual citizenship with Italy, I would have given up long ago. My journey is a metaphor for life’s journey. Over 3 years ago, I requested records for my Italian grandfather from the US Immigration and Naturalization Service. It was two years before they even looked at my request. Then they began the search to see if he was still an Italian citizen when my dad was born. He was, but I need the proof of that. I cannot even list the difficulties that have challenged me. Even this morning, my dad’s legal document that was overnighted to me in Chicago did not arrive. It was a day late.
I have been gathering marriage certificates, death, birth, on several generations of family members in the US and Italy, with roadblocks along the way that made me cry and laugh. All documents had to have apostilles (gold stamps verifying authenticity) and be translated into Italian.
We waited a year for an appointment, and flew both of my children to Chicago, so they could apply also. But the road is taking a sharp turn again. Now, I have to have all the spelling of my maiden name changed on all documents for my deceased grandfather, my dad, and all of my documents, and my name on birth certificates of both children. It’s so outrageously difficult I had to laugh. But, again, I have a burning desire to see this through and I’m not giving up.
I hope that whatever it is you envision is a burning desire that pulls you toward the fruition of that seed desire.
I guess the great quote that reinforces my desire to spend more time in Italy and to become a dual citizen is from the opera, Attila: “You may have the universe, if I may have Italy.” -Giuseppe Verdi
PHOTO: I took this standing on top of the mountain in Caulonia, Calabria, Italy where my maternal grandfather grew up.
Learn more about traveling to Italy on Lenora’s Italy Retreats For Women
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