Chapter 14

“Please don’t be. It is better to know about things than to be ignorant of them.”

“There is a saying in America—‘ignorance is bliss’—but I’ve never quite believed it.”

“Whoever said that was a fool,” she said, and changed the subject. “Now, tell me about yourself.”

Marco and his grandmother spent the better part of an hour swapping information. She was eager to know about his life, and he encouraged her to talk at length about his mother’s childhood. When she and the priest finally stood to leave, she said, “You must visit me in Toscanabefore you return to America.”

“I’m sure that can be arranged,” Marco said.

“IT CERTAINLY HAS been an interesting day,” I said once we were back in the privacy of our room

“You can say that again.”

“I kind of liked your grandmother.”

“Yeah. Me, too. Most people are lucky enough to know all four of their grandparents. It’s kind of odd to meet one for the first time at age thirty.”