65 and 26

At the beginning of the Seventies a young woman, in her early thirties, was trying to make a living by her own. She was a chemistry researcher in a farmaceutical company. She was still living with her parents, but she was dreaming to live alone. One day she had the opportunity to leave the parental house finding a place in the city center - a small cosy flat, just for her. She moved out, she was happy. But the mother insisted for long time to let her come back home - treating her as a "disobedient girl". After almost two years, she decided to move out again and "come back". But things were not the same anymore.

She found the parents' house too narrow for her, and she couldn't breath. She started to plan making a radical change in her life, thus decided to join the academic environment again and started studying medicine. Days were harsh, between the work, the university and a never-ending complaning mother. In between she was also making new friends - at the university. One of this new acquaintances was a guy studying medicine as well, coming from another country, also with the dream to make a change in his life - after having being travelling around the world for almost two years. His path and hers came to meet unexpectedly, and soon they decided to get married.
Marriage is a complicated thing. It's like a garden: if you don't put enough water, if you don't cut out the useless parasites, it will die, or it will live looking like a shadow-garden. But it's a life challenge that can be quite appealing. Two people coming from an allegedly different path decided to undertake this challenge together.
It was the beginning of the Eighties: the young woman was going toward her forties, and her mother was warning her that her chance in having a baby was already lost - you are too old! - she kept repeating to her. But the woman was ready to challenge herself with a new commitment, and at 39 years old she became a beautiful and shiny mother.
Months and years passed by, and the baby she had became a thoughtful daughter, almost having the same approach to life her mother used to have at her age. She was also trying to challenge the path of her life with difficult plans. Mother and daughter, having 39 years of difference, became the best friend of the other. One could mirror in the other, as their strong will to make a change in their life unified them more than ever.

It is now the fifth September in a row that I'm outside the country: in Sept. 2003 I was in Sweden, in Sept. 2004 I was in Austria. Now is the third year I spend the month of September in the country of tulips, which has taken my soul and my heart - unexpectedly. This morning I called my best friend to wish her a pleasant birthday,she has just turned 65! - and blaming myself not to have been able to celebrate this day with her. But this is the path I had to take. After all, I am almost like you, mum. And I love you also for this. You gave me the strength to challenge my life everyday, because you must never regret not to have done what you really wanted to.