From Pen Pals to True Friendship

Have you ever had the experience of meeting a friend or relative, in person for the first time, after getting to know them from a distance? It is an interesting feeling - a combination of the familiar and the unexpected.

Last school year we very much enjoyed writing to and receiving letters, pictures and more from our pen pals in the village of Missaglia, Italy.  Learning about them, their school and community made me want to go and visit.  I wrote to Ms Panzeri with the idea and she was as excited as I was at the thought of getting to meet each other “in real life”.

On Thursday 31 July, after spending two weeks in France and Switzerland my husband and I took the train from Zermatt to Monza, Italy where we stayed overnight. The next morning, we took a bus to Missaglia, which took about half an hour.  Ms Panzeri met my husband and I at the bus stop in town.  We recognized each other right away.

Our first adventure was a walking tour of Missaglia.  There was a wedding going on in the local church but we snuck in to take a peak, being careful not to photo bomb their official photographs.  Next we went to the school which like King George PS was closed for summer break.  We were very lucky that the head caretaker kindly agreed to let us go in for a brief look around. We got to see their classroom and schoolyard and even some of their art projects.

Next, Ms Panzeri drove us to a nearby hill town called Montevecchia. Despite the hot, humid weather we walked up the 174 steps to the Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.  The views from the top are stunning.  Ms Panzeri had made a lunch reservation for us at the beautiful Ristorante Maggioni Montevecchia.  The décor is rustic and the scenery amazing.  I ordered the beetroot gnocchi which was delightful.  We enjoyed chatting over coffee and lemon sorbeto. For me it was interesting to hear that teaching in a small town in northern Italy has a lot in common with teaching in Toronto.

After our wonderful lunch, we went to Ms Panzeri’s house where we met her husband, son and daughter.  Neither of us could believe that after almost a year of corresponding by letter and email that I was really there in her home.  We exchanged gifts – I gave her a box of maple leaf shaped cookies flavoured with maple syrup and a book about Toronto and Niagara Falls.  I hope this inspires her to come and visit us sometime.  Ms Panzeri gave me a lovely sunflower wall plaque made by THUN pottery in Bolzano, Italy.  It will hang in my kitchen to remind me of our friendship and the wonderful day Ms Panzeri treated us to in Missaglia.  

In Ms Panerzi’s card she quoted the philosopher Epicuro: “Of all the things which wisdom provides to make us entirely happy, much the greatest is the possession of friendship “. In her own words she added, “Life is a surprise! I hope you’ll remember your Italian friend forever”.

I certainly will. J