Trapped in Italy: a Memoir: A Vacation to Remember

By Dr. Darleen Dansby

While enjoying a beautiful anniversary trip to Italy at the end of 2021, life for Darleen Dansby and her husband, John, changed in an instant. One minute they were on a leisurely ride to the airport to complete routine testing. The next minute, they were thrust into the chaos of a COVID quarantine abroad.

While detailing the highlights of her life, the choices that dictated her path, and the faith that lifted her during challenging times, Darleen shares a glimpse into how she and John became quarantined in Italy for COVID and ultimately realized that life is always bigger than the moment. While in the midst of an unanticipated separation from family and all they loved, Darleen takes others through their experiences in Italy, detailing how they found gratitude through the chaos and how their adversity gently reminded them of the value of life and family. Darleen’s narrative is enhanced by thoughts from family members that help paint a beautiful picture of the important things in life and that all that really matters is God, family, and friends.

Trapped in Italy: A Memoir is a beautiful story of personal discovery as an American and her husband faced the challenge of a COVID quarantine in a foreign country.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9798823001816

Dr. Darleen Dansby

Darleen Dansby is a nurse practitioner who graduated with a BSN from Northwestern State University and MSN-Family Nurse Practitioner from Concordia University. She completed her Doctorate of Nursing Practice from University of Tennessee and continued her education in Psych Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Post Graduate Certification from University of Cincinnati. She worked for the Veteran Health Administration for 30+ years. Darleen and her husband John, have five successful children including two physicians, one attorney, one registered nurse and one mental health counselor and seven grandchildren.

Book preview

© 2023 Dr. Darleen Dansby. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher

make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book

and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

AuthorHouse™

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [Biblica]

NJB

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Website

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®). Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 979-8-8230-0182-3 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-8230-0181-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023903313

Published by AuthorHouse 03/31/2023

11393.png

I dedicate this book to the memory of my mother, Rebecca Holmes, whom I deeply miss and who is forever in my heart. She showed me how to survive in any circumstances and inspired me, through her love, to appreciate the opportunities with which I have been blessed.

My dear mother-in-law, Doris Dansby, inspired me to write this memoir. I appreciate her love, support, and guidance to be a Christian wife and mother. I am not a writer; however, I love sharing my thoughts with others. I believe it is incredible to be able to reflect on the thoughts in your mind that you and others cannot see. Prayerfully, I will translate my thoughts into a language that others can see and relate to.

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1     Compass

Chapter 2     Hindsight

Chapter 3     Becoming

Chapter 4     Nostalgia

Chapter 5     Pause

Chapter 6     Nirvana

Chapter 7     Disbelief

Chapter 8     Lockdown

Chapter 9     Sister-Sister

Chapter 10   Village

Chapter 11   Intervention

Chapter 12   Home

Chapter 13   Zen

Ciao!

PREFACE

The author was inspired to write a memoir to reflect on her thoughts, emotions, and opinions associated with one of her most challenging life experiences: quarantining in Italy during a global pandemic. She offers snapshots of her faith, strength, and love and shares what great things God can do for us during difficult times. She presents her own perspective on feelings, life lessons, and wisdom with others based on mental, physical, and spiritual aspects. The memoir aims to enlighten its readers while existing as a source of encouragement.

INTRODUCTION

Wow! If you had told me that I would be spending Christmas and New Year away from my family in a foreign country, I would have said you were crazy, but here I am. The taxi ride back to the hotel was surreal. Was I dreaming? Nothing at that moment could make me believe that such a beautiful trip was taking such a climactic turn. I planned our anniversary trip as I had thirty times before, but this time, we were going to Italy, one of our bucket list destinations. No one could have convinced me that this wasn’t a good idea.

As I looked out the window of the taxi, it felt like I were in a movie. The weather was overcast. My eyes fixated on the architecture and the citizens walking the streets. Everything was moving in slow motion. This was not the Italy that my husband and I had been enjoying.

Upon the arrival to our hotel, our eyes widened with surprise. It looked like a fan club was awaiting our arrival: hotel officials, medical officials, and a host of other locals who we naturally did not know. We couldn’t comprehend the reason behind the fanfare.

As we exited the taxi, the barrage of questions—and orders—began.

Why didn’t you all ride in the ambulance?

Why aren’t you in hazmat suits?

You weren’t supposed to ride in a taxi!

The two of you must quarantine immediately!

We couldn’t believe how