Ives

Ives, a boy of uncontainable energy.

“Make sure the boys learn to play chess,” I told my sister Giuliana when she was preparing for her trip to Mexico. A few months later, while I was waiting at the Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo International Airport and was anticipating the pleasure that the four weeks together with my family would bring, I heard the voice calling: “zia, zia.”

I turned around and thirteen year old Ivy and his older brother Alex were waving at me. They had  big smiles on their faces. I had not seen them for three years and the change in their appearance was quite remarkable. Later I would also realize that their personality had also improved. They were on their way to be well educated and mannered young men. Both of them are very active in sports. Sixteen year old Alex plays soccer at a semiprofessional level and Ivy plays basketball and has lots of things on his agenda on a daily basis. They are both excellent students.

When we sat down for dinner, I popped the question, “did you learn to play chess?”

The answer came unanimously, “yes, we have and when are we going to make pizza?’

“We shall make pizza tomorrow but we can play chess tonight, let’s see how good you are!”

Few days later, in between other activities such as: fishing, swimming, driving lessons, soccer games on the beach, cooking classes, gardening, and poker games, we started a chess tournament with four players: Franca, Joseph, Alex, and Ivy.

And the winner was: Ives, the boy with an uncontainable desire for life…..