Italian

Nonna tells Laura on the phone that her mind is made up, she is coming home before it is too late, and nobody is to try to stop her.

Zia Rosa and Zio Antonio call Nonna's journey madness, and Laura defends a decision that is not hers to make.

Laura asks Nonna's doctor whether a woman of ninety-three can fly, and gets a yes with conditions.

Laura books Nonna's flight at the travel agency, an aisle seat, the wheelchair and special assistance, with ne standing for the thing already named.

Nonna packs for Italy over the phone and Laura tells her what to bring and what to leave, with the pronoun stuck on the command.

At dawn Zia Rosa sees Laura off to Boston, where she will fetch Nonna so that she does not fly alone.

On the morning of the flight Nonna looks at her Boston apartment one last time, the home of seventy-two years, and leaves it tidy.

On board at last, a flight attendant welcomes Nonna, learns it is her first flight at ninety-three, and looks after her with the polite commands of Italian service.

High over the Atlantic Nonna looks down at the sea she crossed by ship at twenty-one, and tells Laura what the crossing took then and what her heart does now.

The wheels touch Italian ground after seventy-four years, and Nonna finds no words, then finds that she wants to cry and laugh at once.

Rosa meets her aunt for the first time at Rome airport, with fatti vedere, fatti abbracciare and sei uguale.

On the last road up to Fontelupo, Nonna looks for what used to be there, with qui c'era, hanno fatto la strada nuova and si fermi un momento.

The whole village waits at the fountain and Nonna knows nobody, with eccola, bentornata a casa and sono venuti per te.

Nonna's oldest friend finds her at the fountain, seventy-four years late, with sei proprio tu, mi avevi promesso and siamo due vecchie ormai.

Nonna climbs to her old room and finds her mother's bed, with un gradino alla volta, era qui and lo stesso.

Pietro lights the old oven for Nonna and gives her bread made her father's way, with l'abbiamo acceso per te, senti il profumo and assaggia.

Nonna cannot sleep in her old room and asks Laura to stay, with non riesco a dormire, troppi ricordi and resta un po' qui con me.

Nonna stands at her parents' grave for the first time, with li ho lasciati che erano vivi, perdonatemi and sono tornata.

The parish priest welcomes Nonna from the altar and the church applauds, with una figlia di questo paese, pianga pure and applaudono tutti.

Giulia puts the baby named after Nonna's brother into her arms, with si chiama come tuo fratello, tienilo and ti ho aspettato tanto.

Nonna makes pasta again in Filomena's kitchen, seventy years on, and finds that the hands remember, with come si fa, how it is done.

Nonna tells the village children how life was when she was eight, with non c'era, there was no, the imperfect for how things used to be.

The mayor names Nonna an honorary citizen of Fontelupo and Nonna says she does not deserve it, with me lo and te lo, two pronouns together.

Nonna speaks to the whole village at the fountain, eight lines of her own, with sono partita che avevo ventun anni, che for when, the way people speak.

Pietro asks Nonna, politely, for her granddaughter's hand, and Nonna says it was about time, with Sua and Suo, the polite your.

Nonna asks Laura the one question that matters, and hears the answer she hoped for, with ho fatto bene a partire, I did right to leave.

Nonna tells Rosa and Laura that she is not going back to Boston, with e qui che voglio vivere, e and che to put the weight on one word.

Filomena and Teresa, ninety-three each, laugh at the fountain over the wolf of forty-four, with c'eravamo noi, we were there.

Nonna asks Laura what she would say to the girl of twenty-one on the ship, with se potessi parlarle, le direi, the if of things that cannot be.

Pietro knocks at Nonna's door in a jacket and tie and starts again from the beginning, with ricominciamo dall'inizio, and the first words of Italian are said last.