Our Italian Summer Quotes

“Some love stories are meant to be temporary,”
― Jennifer Probst, Our Italian Summer

“It’s not about how many times we fail, Frannie. It’s how many times we recognize it and change. It’s how many times we try to do better.”
― Jennifer Probst, Our Italian Summer

“We were finally comfortable in our own skin, and able to move through the world without comparison or envy or despair that we’d never be enough. Our bodies taught us the lesson of humility, because eventually, we were all the same.”
― Jennifer Probst, Our Italian Summer

“I leaned over to my daughter. “All those years I tried to teach you to cook have led up to this moment,” I said teasingly. The moment the words popped out of my mouth, I cringed, realizing she might take my comment as an insult. Sure, as a mom, I wanted to teach her to be a good cook like me, but I was proud of her accomplishments and didn’t care what she chose not to do. With the tension between us lately, especially after my lecture two nights ago, I braced myself for the chilled look she’d cut me with. “I’m already an expert, Mom,” she threw back at me. “I can dial the pizza delivery phone number with my eyes closed. It’s perfect every time.” Everyone burst into laughter, and relief shot through me at her easy tone. Oh, how I wished we’d be able to relax with each other more often. I felt as if every word needed to be carefully analyzed to make sure I wasn’t hurting her feelings. When had it begun to fall apart on us? When Allegra began going to school? Or had the broken cracks always been there, slowly eroding through the years because we never tried to repair them?”
― Jennifer Probst, Our Italian Summer

“Our parents make us feel valid. They are the ones who saw everything of who we really are and loved us anyway. Losing them is like losing a limb, no?”
― Jennifer Probst, Our Italian Summer

“Grief was funny that way. The moment you thought you’d beaten it, or at least made peace, it bashed you on the head during a warm sunny afternoon in your garden when you weren’t expecting it, then watched you bleed.”
― Jennifer Probst, Our Italian Summer

“Motherhood was a complicated maze of disappointments and failures, peppered with the occasional wave of pure love that made it all worth it.”
― Jennifer Probst, Our Italian Summer

“God gave us what we needed, not necessarily what we wanted.”
― Jennifer Probst, Our Italian Summer