Trapped in Italy: a Memoir

Dr. Darleen Dansby

Description

While enjoying a beautiful anniversary trip to Italy at the end of 2021, life for Darleen Dansby and her husband, John, changed in an instant. One minute they were on a leisurely ride to the airport to complete routine testing. The next minute, they were thrust into the chaos of a COVID quarantine abroad.
While detailing the highlights of her life, the choices that dictated her path, and the faith that lifted her during challenging times, Darleen shares a glimpse into how she and John became quarantined in Italy for COVID and ultimately realized that life is always bigger than the moment. While in the midst of an unanticipated separation from family and all they loved, Darleen takes others through their experiences in Italy, detailing how they found gratitude through the chaos and how their adversity gently reminded them of the value of life and family. Darleen’s narrative is enhanced by thoughts from family members that help paint a beautiful picture of the important things in life and that all that really matters is God, family, and friends.
Trapped in Italy: A Memoir is a beautiful story of personal discovery as an American and her husband faced the challenge of a COVID quarantine in a foreign country.

Sujets

• Personal Memoirs
• Biography
• Memoir
• Journey
• Autobiography
• Vacation

Informations

• Publié par: AuthorHouse
• Date de parution: 28 février 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798823001816
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

TRAPPED in Italy: A Memoir
 
A VACATION TO REMEMBER
 
 
DR. DARLEEN DANSBY
 
 
© 2023 Dr. Darleen Dansby. All rights reserved.
 
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.
 
This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.
 
AuthorHouse™
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.authorhouse.com
Phone: [phone]
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [Biblica]
NJB
 
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Website
 
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®). Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 
 
ISBN: 979-8-8230-0182-3 (sc)
ISBN: 979-8-8230-0181-6 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023903313
 
 
 
Published by AuthorHouse 03/31/2023
 
 

 
 
 
 
I dedicate this book to the memory of my mother, Rebecca Holmes, whom I deeply miss and who is forever in my heart. She showed me how to survive in any circumstances and inspired me, through her love, to appreciate the opportunities with which I have been blessed.
My dear mother-in-law, Doris Dansby, inspired me to write this memoir. I appreciate her love, support, and guidance to be a Christian wife and mother. I am not a writer; however, I love sharing my thoughts with others. I believe it is incredible to be able to reflect on the thoughts in your mind that you and others cannot see. Prayerfully, I will translate my thoughts into a language that others can see and relate to.
CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1     Compass
Chapter 2     Hindsight
Chapter 3     Becoming
Chapter 4     Nostalgia
Chapter 5     Pause
Chapter 6     Nirvana
Chapter 7     Disbelief
Chapter 8     Lockdown
Chapter 9     Sister-Sister
Chapter 10   Village
Chapter 11   Intervention
Chapter 12   Home
Chapter 13   Zen
Ciao!
PREFACE
The author was inspired to write a memoir to reflect on her thoughts, emotions, and opinions associated with one of her most challenging life experiences: quarantining in Italy during a global pandemic. She offers snapshots of her faith, strength, and love and shares what great things God can do for us during difficult times. She presents her own perspective on feelings, life lessons, and wisdom with others based on mental, physical, and spiritual aspects. The memoir aims to enlighten its readers while existing as a source of encouragement.
INTRODUCTION
Wow! If you had told me that I would be spending Christmas and New Year away from my family in a foreign country, I would have said you were crazy, but here I am. The taxi ride back to the hotel was surreal. Was I dreaming? Nothing at that moment could make me believe that such a beautiful trip was taking such a climactic turn. I planned our anniversary trip as I had thirty times before, but this time, we were going to Italy, one of our bucket list destinations. No one could have convinced me that this wasn’t a good idea.
As I looked out the window of the taxi, it felt like I were in a movie. The weather was overcast. My eyes fixated on the architecture and the citizens walking the streets. Everything was moving in slow motion. This was not the Italy that my husband and I had been enjoying.
Upon the arrival to our hotel, our eyes widened with surprise. It looked like a fan club was awaiting our arrival: hotel officials, medical officials, and a host of other locals who we naturally did not know. We couldn’t comprehend the reason behind the fanfare.
As we exited the taxi, the barrage of questions—and orders—began.
“Why didn’t you all ride in the ambulance?”
“Why aren’t you in hazmat suits?”
“You weren’t supposed to ride in a taxi!”
“The two of you must quarantine immediately!”
We couldn’t believe how quickly life changed for us that afternoon. One minute we were enjoying a leisurely ride to the airport for routine testing, almost sad that our time in Italy was coming to an end, only to find ourselves thrust into the chaos of COVID quarantine abroad.
Before we could really digest what was happening, words that I never imagined hearing in reference to me or family rang clearly.
“We have to notify the police.”
“Go directly to your room!”
“The two of you may go to jail.”
 

Chapter 1
COMPASS
Enrich your life. Dream, explore and discover the unknown lands with new eyes, new lights and new truths.
—Amit Ray, Peace Bliss Beauty and Truth; Living with Positivity
Once we made it past our welcoming committee and back to our hotel room, I began to reflect on how we got here. It was 1984 when John and I said, “I do.” We had met in college at Louisiana Tech in Ruston, Louisiana, in 1982, and it was love at first sight. After a few months of dating, John proposed to me. We had an intimate wedding at John’s parents’ home in Shreveport, with family and close friends in attendance. We were fated to be with each other for life.
We had become pregnant, and though I may be bragging a bit, I must say that I was a beautiful bride with my baby bump. John and I both wanted a big family so we started having children immediately. We were blessed with four children in four years, and then seven years later, we had our fifth child. Our relationship continues to grow stronger each day with our love as the glue that keeps us together. We are stronger together, and no matter what we are faced with, we will handle it together through God. I truly believe that God gives us strength to get through the hard times. I can testify to that based on my recent life experiences.
Each year we celebrate reaching another milestone in our marriage with a couple’s vacation to reflect on a year of growing together while looking forward to our future. As we approached the end of 2021 and the pandemic-driven uncertainty and change, John and I were ready to take a vacation and escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life. We had hoped a few days away would allow us to relax and reunite with normal. I am not sure what made me think that the days ahead would be anything other than unpredictable.
When I reflect on our years of marriage, I realize now that change has been a constant in our lives since 1985 when we moved from our apartment of two years into our first home. It was a modest three-bedroom house in Bossier City, Louisiana, where we lived happily for nine years.
At first, change was calm, marked by having five children early in our marriage, completing our degrees, the construction of our new spacious custom home, and healthy fellowship with family and friends. If anyone were to have told me what was to come next, I would not have believed them. In my mind, we had everything we needed: good friends, close family, and a great community. John was working for General Motors, I was with the VA, and we had settled into raising our family in northwest Louisiana. Sure, we had our ups and downs, but all in all, life was pretty good.
And then it happened.
In 1996 General Motors informed us that John was being transferred to Baltimore, Maryland, and our education in change management began. Unknown to us, this would be the first of six moves in sixteen years.
That move to Baltimore began our whirlwind of change, as it took us from Bossier not long after we had built our 4,000-square-foot, ranch-style dream home. The whirlwind continued when, after only three years, GM transferred him to Flint, Michigan, to work only two years before being transferred to work at the GM Saturn plant in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2003. The winds of change continued blowing in 2005 when GM transferred John to the Arlington, Texas, plant, to the Pontiac, Michigan, plant in 2007, and to the Wentzville plant in St. Louis, Missouri, in 2009. Throughout all these transfers, I was blessed to stay employed with the VA Hospital, and our family unit remained strong. I learned to embrace our special whirlwinds during these years and to see the blessings in how God was moving in our lives.
We also learned that traveling was our great superpower!
Then in October 2012, after thirty-two years of service, John retired from GM, but if you know anything about John, he didn’t stop working. (And neither did I.)
And we kept traveling.
Our life continued to move fast.
In 2012, after “retiring,” John accepted a job with Harley-Davidson. This time he commuted between Milwaukee and St. Louis, partly because our s