@Ro - Thank you for the kind words. And I can’t even imagine how this dilemma would be compounded with a nationality struggle as well. Particularly when Italy has a certain allure and appeal that the US definitely lacks. Education and job opportunities can certainly be geographic, but I’d like to think that your skillset and your wisdom could cross any border. But I might be projecting, as I hope that whatever I learn can be applied in different countries as well. Since you and I are into similar things, I guess I’m holding on to my naiveté.

Having lived in another country for many years (dang, I was born in another country!) and not having been the primary person in choosing to live in the States, I’ve felt, over the years, a little conflicted when thinking of home. For many years, home was Italy, the US just a place where I lived with my parents (mom most of the time) and where I went to school. By the time I finished my graduate degree, my skill set and my abilities were tied, inexorably, to living in the States (well, New York really) and I remember thinking that what I do for a living cannot be possibly done anywhere else; well, Italy. I still think that to a certain degree…and maybe my profession has tied me here, or maybe more important reasons such as feeling that I can and am capable of being and doing anything. A sense of individuality. A sense of acceptance for who I am. A sense that the possibilities are endless. That is what home is, to a certain degree. If you find the place where you fit, whatever that fit may be, that is home too.