From July 1st to the 10th I was in my homeland. Eighteen family members and I piled into the plane for an 8 hour plane ride back to home. My fragile grandmother joined our group, she was born in Italy in 1933 in a small town called Pidemonte Di'Alife. She came to America in her twenties and met my grandfather, they married and started their life having my aunts, uncle and my mother. My grandmother had only been back to her home a handful of times. By the time my cousins and I came along she had not been back in years.

At the age of nineteen I looked out onto the city of Rome. The beautiful city was a part of my homeland and I took in every sight, sound, smell and taste that it had to offer me. On July 3rd my grandmother celebrated her 85th birthday, the first birthday in years she celebrated in her country. She was stronger than I had ever seen her and happier than I had ever seen her. The only thing missing was my grandfather who had passed three years ago on July 4th. Yes, back to back was my grandmothers birthday and my grandfathers passing. My grandmother and the rest of our family would have loved to share this with him.

The trip began in Rome then we traveled to Vico Equense for four days then back to Rome. Both parts of my homeland and the paces we visited along the way made me take a step back. This is where my grandmother lived her life and where my ancestors lived. My history is here and I was finally abled to witness it.

My mother, father and I took a detour with my grandmother. We brought her back to her childhood home. There I saw the light of a young girl in my grandmothers eyes, she was home. There I met her best friend, Angelina, from her childhood and she told me stories of my grandmother. She also criticized me for not speaking Italian but so did everyone else once they knew my grandmother was Italian born. We then traveled to my cousins home where I met my family.

I did not know much about my family in Italy. Now we are friends on Facebook and I have some insight into their day to day lives. My cousin just had his first child with his girlfriend of five years. I have many cousins there but I met about 10 of them. Most older than me by many years expect for four. We bonded as much as we could by speaking broken English and broken Italian but it was the highlight of my life. One cousin even wants to come to America for college. I never imagined going to meet my family in Italy let alone have one of them possibly come to America for four years.

As for my the eighteen family members I came with it is a trip we will never forget. I bonded with my cousins and we experienced once in life time moments together. At one point I was sleeping on the couch with one cousin on a pullout bed and one on a cot in the living room. It was the best part of the trip honestly. I got closer with my cousins and I thank god everyday that I got to experience 10 days in my homeland with the people I care most about.

For 10 days we laughed, learned and indulged our selves. My homeland has now become a part of me. I feel whole, which is amazing because I never knew that I was missing something. I plan to go back to Italy in two years and the ultimate goal is to buy a house in Sorrento so I can one day bring my family to their homeland.