REGION
Tuesday, October 26, 2021
East Oregonian
VOICES
Everything in life
comes full circle
By ANN DUDLEY
Special to the
East Oregonian
I open the lid to my auxil-
iary jewelry box. The box of
what I think of as my overfl ow
area that holds pieces I rarely
wear but are too precious for
me to let go. In the corner,
I spy the ring and slip it on
my finger. The surface of
the glass feels cool against
my skin, and I’m transported
back to the spring of 2002.
I had planned on going to
Italy with my best friend. But
she bagged on the trip as we
started to plan it. What was I
to do? I decided to go anyway.
This was to be my fi rst trip
to Europe on my own. My
previous trips had always
been with my family or my
husband.
I was anxious. There were
other factors involved other
than traveling alone. This
was my fi rst trip on my road
of recovery from debilitating
panic attacks. Panic attacks
that were so bad that it was
hard for me to take a walk
around the block in a neigh-
borhood that I had grown up
in and come back to. I was
also mid-divorce and thank-
fully my husband was all for
me taking the vacation.
Before I left, there was
a flurry of paperwork that
needed to be done. Our
house had just been put on the
market. There was a power
of attorney executed for my
father to act on my behalf in
case our house sold. My sister
insisted I make a last will and
testament in case something
happened to me while travel-
ing. She didn’t want my small
estate or the house to go to my
soon-to-be ex.
As it was my first trip
alone, I decided to go on a
three-week-long tour of Italy
with a tour company. A risk,
as I’m inherently a shy person
and not fond of group activi-
ties. The thought rose in my
mind of a tour group follow-
ing an umbrella held in the
air. But the company guar-
anteed that wouldn’t happen
and the itinerary highlighted
many parts of Italy that I had
loved from previous trips.
The upsides were I didn’t
have to worry about transpor-
tation and there was plenty of
time on our own where we
could explore, and of course
for me, shop. I tacked on a few
days before the tour started so
I could get accustomed to the
time change and added fi ve
days in Paris at the end. All
in all, I would be gone almost
fi ve weeks. A long time to be
absent from the goings-on at
home.
The absolute pinnacle of
my trip was an afternoon I
spent getting delightfully lost
in the back streets of Venice. I
wasn’t concerned a bit, know-
ing that I could always fi nd
my way back to the hotel via
the small arrows on some of
the buildings that direct you
to San Marco square.
I was giddy with the feel-
ing of being by myself. No
other tour members in sight.
No one speaking English
within earshot. I wandered
ANYONE CAN WRITE
Nearly 40 years in the
business have taught me
that readers long for mean-
ing and a connection at a
deeper and more universal
level.
And that’s why the East
Oregonian will be running,
from time to time, stories
from students who are in
my writing class, which I’ve
been teaching for the past
10 years in Portland.
I take great satisfaction in
helping so-called nonwrit-
ers fi nd and write stories
from their lives and expe-
riences. They walk into my
room believing they don’t
have what it takes to be a
writer. I remind them if they
follow their hearts, they will
discover they are storytell-
ers.
As we all are at our core.
Some of these stories
have nothing to do with
Pendleton or Umatilla
County. They do, however,
have everything to do with
life.
If you are interested in
contacting me to tell me
your story, I’d like to hear
from you.
Tom Hallman Jr.,
tbhbook@aol.com
Tom Hallman Jr. is a Pulit-
zer Prize-winning feature
writer for The Oregonian
newspaper. He’s also a writ-
ing coach and has an affi nity
for Umatilla County.
into a small artisan jewelry
shop that specialized in items
made of glass and fell in love
with a ring. Unfortunately, it
wasn’t the correct size. The
proprietress bade me to go
away and come back in a bit
and she would have made it
larger for me.
So, I wandered down the
alley and came upon a pizza
place. An uncommon sight
to see someplace that would
sell me a single slice. It was
my lucky day. They had a
Carciofi pizza made and I
could have a slice of it. The
young woman behind the
counter made me say it in
Italian, and she praised me for
my pronunciation. Carciofi is
a tongue twister for me. But
as I love artichokes, I had
practiced the word until I had
it down.
I took my slice of artichoke
pizza and a can of Coke (also
known in my family as the
nectar of the gods) and left the
small pizza place. Across the
alley, there was a set of stairs
that went directly into a canal.
I sat down on the top step.
The water lapped at my feet.
The sky overhead was the
perfect shade of blue. The
distinct aroma of Venice (part
sea, part Italian restaurant,
part sewer) was around me.
As I ate my humble lunch, I
realized something. No one
knew where I was. Not my
husband, the tour group, my
parents, friends or family.
And I smiled. My heart
was full. The meal was
both one of the simplest and
most memorable I’ve ever
had. Some of the best few
moments of my life.
Welcome
Val Hoxie
Hermiston Chamber
Executive Director!
Follow the Hermiston Chamber Facebook
page for special announcements on
Wednesdays from Val for the Dining
Dollars promotion at local businesses!
Come Visit Us At Our
New Location!
630 S. Hwy 395
next to Obie’s Express
and across from
Tom Denchel’s Ford
dealership
KEEP IT
LOCAL
A13