The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude.

~William James

Even as a kid, my cousin Andrea always had big dreams! When we talked about being teachers or secretaries, Andrea talked of being a movie star. When we dreamed of going to the Mediterranean on holiday, Andrea dreamed of the Caribbean! (A long way from Scotland!)

As we grew up, she was not the prettiest of us, yet she had the most boyfriends. She was a little overweight and not that tall. But Andrea sparkled, both physically and mentally, and young men seemed to find that attractive.

Once on a double date, I marveled at her because she never had one moment of self-doubt or of feeling self-conscious. Because of this, she had the ability to say exactly what she was feeling; she made it seem like you were sharing something very personal with her.

It wasn’t a surprise when she came in and announced, “Well, I am off to Rome to work as a nanny!” We all knew that Andrea had long ago decided she was in love with Rome. She openly told us, “I am convinced I will meet this gorgeous Italian prince and we will fall madly in love!”

We laughed at that, but were all sad to see her go. Andrea arrived in Rome and settled in with the family for whom she was to be the nanny. They gave her a little apartment, and she already spoke Italian having always known she would need to use it! Andrea took her young charge out a fair bit, to the Coliseum, the Spanish Steps, but mostly they went to the Trevi Fountain. “To anyone who has never seen it,” she wrote to us, “you think of a little fountain in a square. It is huge, like a giant monument with water; it is breathtaking and beautiful.” — beliefnet.com