Posted by labarbam on Friday, June 3, 2016 in Blog posts.

I often find myself sitting in Piazza Garibaldi, enjoying pistachio gelato from my favorite gelateria. It is around noon and the sun is shining, but its heat is mellow, underpowered by the cool and brisk feeling in the air. This weather is ideal to relax, read your favorite book, or just people watch. As I go to find a seat on a bench to crack open Aziz Ansari’s newest book Modern Romance (which I have been reading for a while and I highly recommend; his comedy is so unparalleled and really resonates with the 20-somethings), I see that all of the benches are full. Normally, this would frustrate me. How am I supposed to balance my book in my lap and quickly eat my gelato that is melting all over my hands (gelato melts faster than American ice cream because it has more sugar than cream)? Nonetheless, when I look over and see the smiling old men who are occupying all the benches it doesn’t matter that I wanted to sit and read. Their zest for life is so beautiful; I will happily sit on the steps nearby and let them be.

Italy is a country known for its rich and ancient history. The “bones” of its homes can be more than a century old and their monuments are still standing after thousands of years of wear and tear. But, what tends to go unmentioned is the large and lively elderly population that lives here. According to World Bank Data (http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN/), Italy’s birth rate as of 2014 was a mere 1.4 births per woman. When compared to other countries like the United States with a birth rate of nearly 2 at 1.88 births per woman, it is pretty clear that many youthful and fertile Italian women aren’t having as many babies. Whether this is for health, economic, or political reasons really isn’t important here. But, what it does make clear is that a good portion of the Italian population is pretty old. But, age is only but a number in Italy!

When the idea of a Grandpa comes to mind for an American, we think of a man who is sitting playing Bingo at his Nursing Home – waiting for his next round of pills or his kids to visit and slip him his favorite cheeseburger when the nurses aren’t looking. In Italy and especially Sicily, this is definitely not the case. In the early afternoons on the Lungomare (for you English speakers, this is the street of restaurants, hotels, and shops that are on the seaside) or in one of Cefalù’s beautiful Piazzas (Duomo and Garibaldi are my favorite), I will often see a group of men around the ripe age of 85, sitting on the benches outside and basking in the sun. I generally refer to these men as nonni (the word for “grandpas” in Italian). As they are relaxing, you don’t see any of their children or grandchildren lurking around to make sure they don’t trip or have one too many beers. They take care of themselves, walking up the steep hills around here that have even me as a moderately fit college student huffing and puffing. They smoke when they want (and often), drink what they want, and eat what they want. Maybe instead of Boca Raton we should start sending our senior citizens here. It would be like Spring Break in Cancun for them.

Even the elderly woman (or the female equivalent of the nonni, which are called nonne), are working in their bars or shoe stores as if time does not faze them. They get up in the morning, work all day, and have dinner with their families at night. The concept of “retirement” doesn’t exist because their daily life is already so enjoyable that they don’t want to leave it.

The strangest idea, but really makes the most sense, is that these men aren’t just sitting around waiting to die! They are all happy, smiles on their faces while they are laughing at each other’s stories. Who knows if they were talking about old stories about when they were young or about the beautiful body on the young woman that is walking in front of them! It doesn’t matter. Out late at Piazza Duomo for a concert last Friday evening, I watched the older men and women get up on their feet and dance. Even thought it was after midnight, there were young children awake and dancing around, as well as much older men and women. It is so refreshing to see here that everyone has such love and passion for life instilled in them at a very young age, and that they carry it with them for the rest of their lives. I can only hope that when I get to their age I am still that excited to wake up every morning when I start living the calm and humble life they all have. To have as much fun as these old men, I had to travel across the world and literally climb mountains. What?! I definitely could learn from these nonni, in simply that La Vita è Bella (Life is Beautiful), and it should be lived how you want it to be regardless of your age.