wanderers this morning came by

A lot of people think that Roma are travelers and wanderers, but if my Gypsy man's ancestors ever lived somewhere other than the city he was born in, Pristina, he doesn't know about it.

His parents and relatives had normal jobs and lived in a normal neighborhood and built a beautiful large home at the top of a slight hill. They decided to leave temporarily when ethnic tensions in that country were at their worst, and planned to come back when it would be safer. For several years they visited their home only occasionally, and left many valuable belongings there. One day my Gypsy man's father was watching the news and saw his own house on the tv. It had apparently been taken over as an American base. In a time of war, legal claims to land and property are not so clear. They never got their house back, and all their belongings were stolen or destroyed. Not only was the literal home taken away, but so was the idea of home, of place, and of belonging. Friends and relatives had all fled. And then Yugoslavia--the country written on their passports--ceased to exist. Can you imagine having your universe so completely altered?

My Gypsy man's family settled in Italy, where he grew up from the time he was eleven. He studied abroad in Spain and later moved to the United States to finish his university education. He visited other countries on vacation, or to visit relatives, or on interpreting assignments, or with a BYU performing group called Living Legends. So yes, you could say he has traveled. Isn't it interesting that some kinds of traveling can seem pitiable, and others so cosmopolitan and important?

Well this week my baby girl and I are the travelers. We left poor Tata (daddy) at home while we went to soak up the California sun and remember what it's like to feel grass on your bare feet. When we get home my baby of nine months will have been on FOURTEEN airplanes. That's two trips to California, one to Texas, and one to Italy, on the cheapest tickets we could find (which means lots of layovers). She is a trooper. We can't wait to get home and get big hugs and kisses from Tata.

And here's a performance I adore of a song that talks about wanderers: