Madeline- a look back

 This is Madeline when she was a just about Sam's age.

It's fun to pull out pictures from the yesteryears and remember what was happening then.
 When Madeline was six months, we were living in Slovenia, downtown Ljubljana-perhaps one of the most magical European cities to live in.  We lived right on the river that runs through the town, and right at the foot of the castle that overlooks the city.   Many of my loves were developed in that city.

 This is where I first started to read seriously.  I was tutored by my friend Susan, whose husband was in the foreign service.  Between her house and the Ljubljana library, I found books she told me were important to read:   Dune, East of Eden, Grapes of Wrath, The Age of Innocence, The Great Gatsby.

  I also walked every day to the fresh market that was just a couple blocks from our house.  Most of the stands were manned by Bosnians, so I could speak Serbo-Croatian to them.  I was interviewed twice at the market and was on TV once and in the paper once.  I would first go inside to get fresh eggs, meat, bread and cheese, and then get my vegetables and fruit outside.  Finally, if I was feeling quite free, I would indulge myself and choose a bouquet at the beautiful flower stands on the side.

Whenever Ryan and I talk about where we would really love to eat out if we could go anywhere, one of us inevitably remembers the "Srpski Restaurant" on the edge of town.  We went the Sunday we came back from the States.  As usual, all grocery stores were closed, and we were particularly famished (now I know it's because I was pregnant with Ella- Ryan has terrible sympathy hunger and fatigue when I'm pregnant-fasting is out of the question).  It's still our favorite restaurant, perhaps because it's so unaccessible to us now.  It lives only in our memories.