No way this is the last one. The last blog post. What is going on here?

I wish I could freeze time. I wish I could appreciate more of these moments. I wish I could be present more, but that is kind of an impossible task when you are already present, you know?

It’s more of an empty begging. An empty ask of the universe for more time. But that is not in the cards — and I know I am lucky to have experienced this place, this work, these people, this country, this nature, this motion, and this phase of life. I’m so lucky I got to do this all here.

This place is truly incredible and I owe an extreme debt to the Accademia. I really cannot fully put into words all that I have learned and loved here. All that I have shed and all that I have become. 

I feel the calling of something in my soul, and I’ve felt this feeling stirring for some time. I know that Arezzo, the Accademia, this work and these teachers, this place, these people, will call me back here someday. Maybe that will take the form of me coming back to be an Artist in Residence (MY DREAM!!!), or maybe one day I will come back to teach here, or work here, or stay here, or create here. But there is something that pushes at the back of my brain whenever I see the beautiful Italian countryside, or when I make the walk into Arezzo, or when I look out from the Teatrino, or when I’m falling asleep looking out my window — I am thinking, ‘Yes, I’ll be back. Don’t worry Tommy, I’ll be back.’ It’s a sad thought. But it’s also full of hope. As this novel begins to close, I am determined that some kind of sequel is being cooked up, waiting in the wings, ready for me to take flight and come back to where I am being called.

Thank you for everything, Accademia. Thank you to each and every teacher, staff member, and peer. Thank you to the grass and the wildflowers and the wind and the rain. Thank you to the sun and the Italian language and the late nights spent in town. Thank you to the seaside of Sicily and the castle of Poppi. Thank you to all that I have met inside of myself and all that is to come. 

Lots of love from Italy, one last time. 

Tommy – Boston University

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