Shadow Evidence

An old man is holding his wife’s hand. They are reminiscing about the lives they had lived. What they had done. Where they had travelled. The children they had raised. The wife brings up the painting that defined their youth. It always brings a smile to them both.

It is 8:30 on a Tuesday morning and I am walking down Via del Seminario in Rome. I have been in Italy for two weeks now and in Rome for the past two days, and still I cannot get over the amount of history this city has to offer.

I open my eyes and my body is already protesting. It’s so warm under these covers, why would you want me to get up? The sun is not even out… are you crazy? It’s too early… go back to sleep. I spend the next few minutes struggling with my other self, but knowing that in the end there is no argument. I’m still going.