Brad opened cards from me and Luigi ("I poop...you scoop!"). Then I surprised him with a card Federico left for him for Father's Day. We had a leisurely breakfast of cheesy eggs, bacon, melon and Caramel Cinnamon Rolls.

After breakfast, we enjoyed TWO Skype calls from Federico and his family. It was wonderful to speak live with him and see his smile. He has been busy returning to his Italian life, meeting with teachers to give them copies of what his classes covered this past year, and spending time with his friends and family. His mom said the whole family enjoyed "the movie" and all cried at the end.

We are trying hard to get used to his absence. He is greatly missed every minute of the day!

Here is a photo of Brad and his son:

We had a long afternoon nap and caught up on DVR-saved TV shows from May!

It is beautiful, isn't it? So is its new case!

What does YOUR Siri call you? You can teach her your name, you know, or what you would like to be called. I know one teen she calls, "My Love". Another friend has her call her, "Your Highness". MY Siri calls me, "Federico's mom"!

Last Friday, I was at a professional Law and Ethics conference. I sat next to a wonderful friend and colleague I hadn't seen for a long time. I love this woman, who is two decades older and wiser than I am, still does therapy two days a week, and is beautiful and gracious. We were both there early before the presentation began. She asked me what I had been up to this year, so of course I told her all about Federico, and showed her photos on my i-Phone.

At our mid-morning break, she asked to see my phone and look at the photos again. I made a comment about becoming a mom at 60, and said, "Better LATE than NEVER."
She looked at me and said, "God is never late. He does things when it is exactly the right time!"

Thank you, Rena! So much wisdom in those words!

Federico called me from Rome, saying, "It is so weird. Everyone is speaking Italian!"
He is safe and re-entering his world of family, friends and school. We are at peace. Thanks for all the support!

Yesterday was tough. So many feelings: Sad, gut-wrenching sobs, no sleep, hundreds of clingy hugs, sweet reassurances and tender, loving words from Federico; his friends in and out of the house at all hours the past three days to say more tearful good-byes, and finally the ride to the airport.

Federico checked in with more than twice what he arrived with. He had two huge pieces of luggage, both overweight, a packed-full carry-on and heavy backpack. His bags weighed in at 54.5 and 58.5 pounds. The girl at United, didn't flinch, and heaved them on to the conveyer. I guess it pays to be attractive. (I have had to remove items at 52 lbs.)

We watched him go through security, and finally watched the plane take off from the end of the runway in Palm Springs. He texted us from LAX as we were pulling into our driveway!

This morning, I am off to work, with swollen-shut eyes, but a feeling of peace, that he will be in the loving arms of his family in Rome by 9:30 this morning, our time. He will skype that he is safe in Italy, and I will run out of a staff meeting with my i-Pad to hear his voice.

Thank you to all of you wonderful friends and readers who "get it". Thanks for your support, emails, comments and hugs.

I will write more about our journey as parents during this incredible year!

We had 8 teens and 8 parents over for a Pasta Party, "Ciao For Now" dinner for Federico. There was lots of fun, group participation, a poker game, and plenty of great food for all.

After dinner we all watched the "Federico's Year in Palm Desert" DVD.

Federico loved this dish at our Mother's Day Brunch, so I made it for dinner:

Short Ribs Benedict:

Left over Beer-Bacon Braised Short Ribs over crispy has browns with poached eggs and hollandaise! YUM!

As you all know, we already feel like we won the lottery with our son, Federico, this year, but we received an important looking envelope from the White House the other day.

It included a certificate for "The President's Volunteer Award", a letter on White House stationary, signed by Mr. Obama, and a lovely pin!

President Obama, It was our PLEASURE to host Federico!

We hosted a gathering of some of Federico's closest friends to celebrate his Graduation at the Firehouse Grill.

I never got to give him a kid's birthday party, so I made up for 17 years of treats!

Each place had a Cookie Pop:

After dinner, the kids feasted on Aztec and Mortarboard Graduation cookies and cupcakes:

While Federico and his friend were in a private room, Brad and I had dinner in the main part of the restaurant until dessert.

I made a brief "speech" about our year and what great friends he has chosen.

LOTS of photos were taken, and everyone enjoyed the surprise "party favors": Federico Masks!

Federico has a wonderful night with his friends! Mom: Happy and proud!

It's been pretty busy around here! Federico has been spending as much time as he can with his friends, during his last few days of school. He has one more final, then a Senior Beach trip on Tuesday, Senior Breakfast on Wednesday, and GRADUATION Thursday, followed by 6 Flags Magic Mountain Grad Night!

Here is Federico with his good friends Seth and Dakota. Congratulations to Seth on Student of the Year!

On Sunday, we had a pre-Graduation family brunch at The 3rd Corner Wine Bar and Bistro. We enjoyed pork belly Benedict, rosemary potatoes, fruit, blueberry mini-muffins and bottomless mimosas.

After we ate, Federico got his early Graduation gift of an unlocked i-Phone 5 (that he can use in Italy.

He was really SHOCKED when he opened his gift (It was in the BIG bag). He was VERY excited! The small bag was a photo i-Phone case from Shutterfly. He is very ready to replace his little flip phone!

After getting an Apple ID, and a quick stop at the AT&T store to switch service to Federico's new phone, I came home and made a few cookies...

More on those tomorrow!

We celebrated both Brad's Birthday and my birthday last weekend in Las Vegas. Since my birthday fell on Mother's Day, we celebrated it on Saturday with some shopping in the morning, pool time in the afternoon, a 5:00 performance of Jersey Boys, and then a great dinner at Bon Ami Gabi.

The celebration continued when my interns surprised me with a party during our group supervision.

Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes, texts, emails and FB greetings!

My FIRST Mother's Day! Federico and Brad made it a very special Mother's Day/Birthday for me.

I woke up to hugs and cards and a latte. Federico is the sweetest young man ever! I was so happy and proud of him. Mother's Day is usually a very sad day for me, as I miss my own mom and always feel left out of the "Mom's Club". This year was amazing. We had a great brunch at The Henry at the Cosmopolitan. Their specialty is Short Rib Benedict, and it was as delicious as it sounds!

Luigi, and my Godchildren, Casey, Sarah, Noah and Gabe also honored me for Mother's Day. Federico gave me a wonderful gift. Our Civic Center Park has a rose garden with a tile mosiac under a gazebo. Soon, one of the tiles will say, "I love you Mom, Federico"!
I will visit it often. What a lovely place to sit and skype Federico in Italy...

Last month my book club read The Storyteller, by Jodi Piccoult. We all were very moved by this story. It is about a young woman, who is a baker who works at night making pastries for a bakery. She is grieving her mother's death, and joins a grief support group, where she makes an unlikely friend in a 95 year old man with a terrible secret and a bizzare request. Skillfully woven into the plot is her grandmother's story of surviving as a young girl at Auschwitz.

Because of the theme of the book, instead of our usual lunch at someone's home, we gathered in Palm Desert Civic Center Park for a tour of the Desert Holocaust Memorial, given by one of our members. I am embarrassed to say, I didn't even know this memorial was in my city. It is beautiful, and quite moving.

A large area of cobblestones was set aside for the memorial. It is surrounded by curved light posts designed after those at Auschwitz that held electric barbed wire. Ceramic globes represent the fixtures used to emit gas at the camps.

At the center of the memorial is a marble base in the shape of a Star of David. There are 5 large bronze sculptures of people in the center.

One website gives this description:

"CENTER OF THE MEMORIAL"
AT THE HEART OF THE MEMORIAL THERE ARE FIVE BRONZE FIGURES REPRESENTING THE PEOPLE AND DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF THE HOLOCAUST MOUNTED ON A DOUBLE TIERED STAR OF DAVID.

"BOY FROM THE GHETTO"
IN A STATE OF DESPAIR AFTER BEING SEPARATED FROM HIS PARENTS AND FORCED TO THE TRANSPORTATION AND TAKEN TO AUSCHWITZ.

"MOTHER WITH CHILDREN"
BEGGING FOR HER CHILDREN'S LIVES AS AN SS SOLDIER'S FINGER SQUEEZES THE TRIGGER OF HIS RIFLE BECAUSE SHE WOULD NOT LET GO OF HER CHILDREN.

"A RABBI"
PRAYING OVER DEAD BODIES AS SS SOLDIERS RIDICULE HIM. HE DID NOT SURVIVE.

"THE DYING MAN"
ALONE, SILENT, DYING, HIS DEATH REPRESENTS THE REALITY OF BIGOTRY, IGNORANCE AND HATRED THAT HAS TAKEN HIM TO ITS INEVITABLE END.
HE REPRESENTS THE 11,000,000 PEOPLE WHO DIED IN THE HOLOCAUST, JEWS, CHRISTIANS, GYPSIES, MENTALLY ILL, PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED, HOMOSEXUAL AND MANY OTHERS, THAT WERE KILLED IN THE NAME OF NAZISM AND THE SICKNESS IT STOOD FOR.

"THE DEFIANT MAN"
THE ACCUSING MAN! HE STANDS TALL, HE SURVIVED THE MONSTROSITY OF MANY CONCENTRATION CAMPS. HE WEARS THE NUMBER "A-17874" TATTOOED ON HIS LEFT ARM IN AUSCHWITZ DEATH CAMP. HE IS TO TEACH, TESTIFY AND TO REMIND THE WORLD
"NEVER AGAIN"

The figures, done by artist Dee Clements, have so much emotion in their faces and bodies. Our group decided another interpretation could be that these figures also might represent Ross' 5 stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance).

The base of the sculpture is also fascinating. The top marble step is a map of Europe with all the concentration camps marked.

The bottom step has the countries and number of people who died circling the Star of David shape of the base.

There are many plaques surrounding the memorial. This quote really grabbed my attention:

On your next visit to Palm Desert, after coming to see us, be sure to visit this amazing Memorial in our beautiful Civic Center Park!

On our last evening in NYC, we ate dinner at Scott Conant's "Scarpetta". We began with Mozzarella in carrozza.

Federico and Brad both had Roasted Capretto (goat), and I ordered to-die-for duck and foie gras ravioli. We shared a chocolate lava cake with salted caramel gelato for dessert.

After dinner we headed to the top of the Empire State building for some gorgeous night views.

I posed with my foodie buds alton Brown and Anthony Bourdain, and Federico got into the New York Sprit.

It was a great last night in New York City!

Sunday morning, after a leisurely breakfast with my cousin, we spent most of the day at museums. We began at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and then visited the American Museum of Natural History.

We ended the afternoon with a LONG walk through Central Park, and finally a carriage ride.