few words

yeah.. it has been forever since i have written on this blog.
i'm sorry. and to quote some latin words, mea culpa. mea culpa. mea culpa.
i read recently the post that was written by Claudia, and a thought came to my mind.
I must consider myself lucky.
well many people say that all the time.. there is no sunday that i go to church and have some member that says: "Gabriele you are lucky".
i have passed two weeks with the love of my life. i have passed christmas with her.
i have witnessed the sweet feeling of being around someone that really loves you.
i can say that claudia is that person. the person that can give me a lot of love. all the love i was looking for.
i know everytime i write something on this blog i'm cheesy.. maybe because i love cheese. but anyway.
somehow i can't think of any specific argument to write about, but of love. well the special love that i have for Claudia.
sometimes i think about the long distance relationship that we have. how hard it is. and how painful it can be. especially lately.
but i realized that a long distance relationship, if well handled, can give something that you can't have in any other sort of relationships. when i saw her for the first time in the airport after 7 months, my heart was ready to explode for joy. when i hugged her i felt like in heaven.
many emotions came to my heart. the joy of being together. those two weeks i lived like i was in heaven.
i had the same feeling everytime i saw her.
it's a heart break everytime we say goodbye, but soon and for soon i mean 7 months, we won't say goodbye to each other anymore. and that is a feeling no one can buy.
happiness is rare. and only one person in the world can give it to you. and that is your eternal companion. i'm glad i found mine. she is a lovely young girl from chicago. her name is Claudia Peters.. and she is the most beautiful girl i've ever met in my life.
this is the reason why i consider myself lucky. and blessed.
don't you think?

i am the master of my fate: i am the captain of my soul...

so i finally got to go see the movie invictus...which i loved. not only because matt damon is my favorite actor and morgan freeman is amazing, but it deals with history that i am in love with. see, for several years (at least 10, if not more) i have been intrigued by south african history. i just love it. my love for south africa began when i first read excerpts from the book kaffir boy in the reader's digest abridged books. and i'm not really sure how i stumbled upon it, but ever since then south africa and the apartheid always interested me thanks to mark mathabane.

invictus talks mostly of nelson mandela's approach to transforming the people of south africa into a united people...by means of rugby. you look at mandela and see a man who was imprisoned for decades and once set free expresses no hatred nor revenge. he practices forgiveness in a way that is remarkable. i always remember my dad talking about nelson mandela and why he was such a great person, leader and example.

for those of you interested in more about south africa, i would recommend reading mark mathabane's autobiography entitled kaffir boy, or check out the documentary amandla! a revolution in four part harmony.

where there is love there is life

i titled this blog with a quote by ghandi. because i really believe that love gives us life. there are so many aspects of love that make this true in our lives. whether from family, a significant other, or from the Gospel we are given life as we love. our relationships aren't always going to be perfect, but i know that the love that exists in those relationships is. i mean, when you live at home with your family, there are going to be times of disagreement or hardship. this doesn't mean that at any point the love that exists in your home is gone. love is always there and it's what keeps you together.

until this christmas, i had spent seven months without gabriele. i don't want to be a cheese-ball about it but it was hard. it's really different communicating long distance. we talk all the time and we e-mail and see each other on the webcam but it is not the same as being around each other in real life. in person, you learn so much more through conversation, actions, gestures, expressions, etc. that you just can't convey over the internet.

this reminds me of the ces fireside elder bednar gave not too long ago as spoke of virtual life and things of that nature on the computer and internet. he spoke of the importance of human relationships and the reality and value of speaking face to face. when i think of this and my long distance relationship it makes me think of how different communication is today. it seems that we avoid that face to face contact all the time. we text instead of call. we facebook or e-mail instead of writing or stopping by. we take physical presence for granted. i'm guilty of these things and i'm a little disappointed in myself for being that way. i certainly want to be better about communicating with friends and family.

either way, all i want to say is that it was amazing seeing the love of my life again, if only for two weeks.