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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jieu5KFNwMk&t=3331s
Having been to Pompeii in '17, and hearing about my daughter's visit in '22, I felt the pain of what happened there also like those who suffered in the Mt. St Helens disaster. But it was amazing to see a city from 2000 years ago, knowing its people like us came to cities to be close to one another, to trade thru times of famine and hardship together. My roots lie 50 miles east of Pompeii, my paternal grandparents, born in the 1890's, came from Potenza Italy to the US knowing that War would come to Europe, as WW1 did. Going back to their homeland as I have done many times, I think of walking in the footsteps of Biblical times, knowing my ancestors walked there so far away and brought me into this world, born in Chicago, the Windy City. We were a family of Nomads, moving from Chicago to California. But the slower life of southern Italy, and its happy people if you get to know them, always made most of my family visit, even my mother, who was not Italian. There is something romantic there, near the Mediterranean, which I found a breath of fresh air during my eight visits between '77 and '17. Visiting there, and Pompeii, always made coming home to the US quite special because I was born here, but allowed to go 'over there'.