Sunday, November 28, 2010

ELISA- Pronounced "Elizza"

Lovely, yes?  Our gift this Thanksgiving - the following letter I wrote after dinner since it was a surprise she was coming - AND I did not know her until after....... Elisa is from Italy, here just 8 years.  Her accent and Italian style is so heart warming and pure - the letter speaks for itself -

Thanksgiving 2010-

Dear Elisa:

The immense joy began the moment you came through the door with Dolan.  You were a beam of light, a  breath of fresh air, a loving spirit, beautiful energy and a loving presence felt by all. You filled the room in the best of ways.

I am so grateful you came for Thanksgiving dinner. People often ask, - “Is there such a thing as love at first sight?”  I can say, without a doubt that there is because it happened with you.  Your lovely spirit and beautiful sound are like poetry, song and verse blended in harmony.  I love how you speak with your whole self - your body moves in rhythm with your words and expression making being in your presence a total and wonderful experience.  Being in your presence was such a gift to me - there are no words to convey the truth of that completely.  Your appreciation of our home and its meaning meant so much - and I watched as you absorbed our traditions and creative style so lovingly and how well it blended in to you - and how you “fit” so well in to our humble world.  I was overtaken with delight.

You had no idea how much I needed to have YOU here - I didn’t even know it myself until I felt the gentle beauty of your presence filled our home. As you melted over, around and though us I realized that I had sorrow I was hiding and loss I was grieving and pain I was covering and the lovely blanket of pure love you swept over us overpowered all the hurt and covered me with pure and natural joy.  “Thank you”    Your energy and natural intent and loving purpose is like no other I have experienced in a very long, long time.  Hallelujah!

I am so grateful that you are ‘with’ Dolan and that you are loving him.  Knowing that brings me great joy and relief and hope.  It was such a gift to me to have you join us for the Thanksgiving holiday.  What you ‘brought’ just by being you is such a blessing and amongst one of my most treasured gifts this year

Love Gail

peace.................


Our day was wonderful and bountiful in so many ways.  I hope all of yours was too.  And I am SO happy to tell you all that Elisa is joining us for the extended Christmas celebrations and family traditions. I am so looking forward to her excitement and all that she brings of her loving self.  - and one more thing.  She plays piano - classical piano - I was mesmerized by her talent. She sat, before the keyboard facing the picture window in Dolan's old room, now our music/guest room. The view beyond was lovely, of a deep November day, naked trees and gray-blue sky - and her fingers danced across the keys and the sound filled me, filled the room and I was in heaven.  


I miss them both and I cannot wait until December 23rd when they will be 'home'. Hallelujah........





28 comments:

Diana said...

Hi Gail!
Elisa looks lovely! What a wonderful surprise guest! You know it's always good when mom likes the girlfriend and or boyfriend! So happy you had a great Thanksgiving! Love Di ♥

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

Her smile is as broad and beautiful as your welcome! So happy to hear you have so much to celebrate. Happy Days.

Bernie said...

I know you would of made Elisa feel so welcome in your home and I am glad that you all had such a wonderful Thanksgiving....:-)Hugs

Finding Pam said...

WHat a beautiful post! I am so glad that you had a great Thanksgiving. Is DOlan your brother?

Peace and love,
Pam

Cindy said...

Gail, oh I am so happy , what a wondeful blessing, to have your son in love with a wonderful person, just what a mother dreams of. heaven is a good way to describe a day like that. hugs to you and much love.

Gail said...

DIANA-
wonderful indeed! ANd oh yes, you are so right - it is such a good thing when the 'Mom' likes their kids choices in a b/f or g/f phew. :-)

BONNIE-
Her smile is truly lovely - so nice of you to mention that, thanks Bonnie

BERNIE-
Oh my, she was so easy to welcome adn embrace. Thanks Bernie for sharing in this gift with me.


PAM-
Dolan is my son - pictured in the first photo with Elisa. He s a brilliant and kind young man that I so adore.So nice of you to stop by and share in this celebration :-)

CINNER-
Oh yes - them together is a dream come true and the day was truly heavenly. I am so gla you came by and that you 'met' Elisa :-)


Love to you all
Gail
peace.....

Eileen said...

Elisa is beautiful to look at, and now we know she is beautiful inside as well as out!
Nice tribute, Gail!

So glad Elisa was there to fill a void, and so glad you had such a sweet celebration together and more to look forward too!

We had a nice surprise on Thanksgiving too when our oldest son brought his new girlfriend to dinner. She too is Italian (Florenza) and part Cuban too. She moved here from California and she is a teacher in a school in the Bronx. She fit in very well with our family, but we all say the same thing, we do not want to invest too much emotion into her, because our son has a track record of doing this, introducing wonderful girls into our lives, and then sadly these lovely ladies are suddenly out of our lives and a big void is left. I'm hoping this one is a 'keeper' for him, because she seems like a keeper for the rest of us!

Thanks for sharing this experience with us.
Enjoy!
Love to you,
Eileen

Gail said...

EILEEN--

I too hope that 'Elisa is a keeper for Dolan - as you read I fell in love with her - I will embrace her as long as their love lasts. Interesting that we each nave sons that have girlfriends from Italy - Elisa is from Bologna.
DOlan is also a teacher in the Bronx, at the "International High School" - teaches senior English, 'English as a second language'. Where does your sons g/f teach?

Hope all is well in your world
Love to you always
Gail
peace.....

Anne said...

Elisa is so pretty. The look in Dolan eyes shows that he truly adores Elisa. I am so glad that you Thanksgiving was wonderful!
Smiles to you.

Gail said...

CHOICeS-ANNE

So glad you came by to 'meet' Elisa. Yes, Dolan has love in his eyes for her. So wonderful.
Love to you
Gail'
peace....

Eileen said...

Hi, Gail, I do remember you said that Dolan was a teacher but for some reason I thought it was in Brooklyn.
I'm not sure what school Flora teaches in, I only know that it is an all girls charter school in the Bronx, and that she teaches first grade. Brian doesn't offer too much information about any girl he's dating, and we didn't want to inundate her with too many questions at first meeting! She seems really sweet and down-to-earth though, I hope things work out.

I don't know how much I'll be blogging over the next few weeks, lots to do, and of course Blogger is giving me problems posting again! But I'll try to visit anyway.
I have a few posts set up and scheduled to publish but so far they haven't been publishing. Ugh! Blogger! Oh well.
Take care.
Love to you,
Eileen
PS ~ My verification word is 'blest'!

Wanda..... said...

Your Thanksgiving seems to have been an exceptionally good one for you Gail on a personal level. Elisa does have a sweet glow, she looked very happy, as did your son. Glad you had such a joyful day!

Gail said...

HI WANDA-

ALways so good to have you come by. Thanbk you for sharing in our new joy and blessing. I so loved your latest post :-)

HI Eileen-
DOlan isn't all that forthcoming either, however, since we talk almost daily, so just by design I get bits and pieces of his relationship with Elisa. :-)
Sorry you are still having blogger problems - eesh! Stay close though, ok?

Love to you both
Gail
peace.....

Andy said...

Nice Gail :-) Where is Elisa from in Italy?

SE'LAH... said...

She IS lovely, Gail!!! What a wonderful smile.

Wishing you the best of days my friend. one love.

Gail said...

HI Se'Lah and thank you so much for sharing in our delight over elisa.


Love to you
Gail
peace.....

Gail said...

HI ANDY

remember, you corrected my spelling? I wrote Bolonia and you said it is Bologna!! :-) So she is from 'Bologna

Love you
Gail
peace......

Tamarind~ said...

Elisa is blessed to have a host like you! Am sure, your Christmas will be filled with happiness, and her's too!

Yea, was away for a while. Trust you are doing well :)

Mark said...

Beautiful! You are such a generous soul. I am glad to hear that you had a day so full of love.

Sniffles and Smiles said...

Hello, dear Gail!! Just stopping by to say "hello!" and what joy I find here!! So happy for you!! It sounds as though you had a lovely Thanksgiving!! And it is so wonderful to see our children so happy! Sending you love, Janine XO

elisa said...

Oh! Hello Gail! And hello everybody!

Look at this: you wrote a post about us (you+me)! Wow! And what you say is out of this world! You make me sound like I am a dance party of great things! But really, the dancing one is *you*.

My gratitude largely exceeds the already large appreciation for your words: I met you and you are wonderful! Thanksgiving day last week has been the best holiday I had spent away from my family. Your letters to me signify rituals at their deepest: like an old dam standing underneath a river, they seize its flow and support it; they help what surrounds you to something else. They are the work of a Mom.

Your home is now a fuzzy green pulsar light in my radar (I think about that space in the world and I feel uplifted and safer). This may sound a bit adventive, but it's true! And more is possible (think about all the hues of color)! Here is a picture of what happens in me: http://www.wisdomportal.com/Levitation/Magritte-ClearIdeas980x824.jpg It's like a wider breath, or maybe the first breath taken in a dream.
Because you are you, and because you are Dolan's mom, meeting you has been an inspiration for me: *thank you!* (MORE STARS!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro9y4fYU4G0

Love,

elisa

Gail said...

ELISA-
I am so gald you came to my blog and commented here. Your beautiful words mean SO much to me and I am thrilled, truly blessed that you have cone in to Dolan's and our lives."Thank you" for all that you are that you so generously shared with us. I am so excited to be with you again for Christmas with our family.
Love Gail
peace.....

Gail said...

ELISA_
I Love love LOVE the picture. And to all my readers click on elisa's name so you can see it as well. :-)

Love Gail

Gail said...

HI MARK-
I am so glad you came by and 'met' Elisa - a truly humble, ego-free beautiful soul. :-)

HI JANINE_
SO good to see you and such good timing. I am so happy ypu shared in the blessings of our day with Elisa. A gift beyond measure.

TAMARIND-

So nice to see you - and have you join in our gratitude and blessings. I hope you are ell.

Love to you all
Gail
peace.....

Christmas-etc... said...

How absolutely lovely!! Elisa seems just wonderful. I am following along to see the continuing love story!
Please join me at my history blog! I'd love to have you along!
Blessings!
Ann

Gail said...

ANN NICHOLS-

So nice to have you come by and share in the joy of Elisa". I have gone over to your blog and I am now also a follower. :-)
Love Gail
peace.....

Jackie said...

Oh Gail, it is so evident the joy and love that Eliza shares...and that you share with her. That was a beautifully written letter to her from you. I would keep it forever...and I'm sure she will. I'm glad that she will be an extended part of your family at Christmas. Love is wonderful...and I'm glad that you feel the love for Dolan's girlfriend...and that she feels for him...and for you. What joy that must bring you!!! I can feel it through your blog. You are simply bubbling with happiness...and that makes me happy, Gail.
Hugs and love,
Jackie

Gail said...

JACKIE-

I am so glad you came by ant 'met' Elisa - and oh yes, bubbly and happy and joyous - Hallelujah. Thank you for sharing in this lovely gift.

Love to you always
Gail
peace.....