Reconnecting After a Decade: A Pizza, Laughter, and a Shared, Shaking Memory
A few days ago, I received a message. It was from my friends/former neighbors, whom I hadn't seen for about ten years, ever since we moved. "We haven't seen each other in ages, pizza together on Saturday night?" The answer, of course, was yes.
We met up and stayed at the table until very late. We had many years of catching up to do. Their little girl, to whom I used to bring a small gift every time they invited me for pizza at their place (which happened often, knowing I lived alone), is now a teenager with her own life. I wonder if she remembers anything about me – they say she does; maybe it's true, or maybe they're just being kind.
It was a wonderful evening filled with memories, laughter, updates, and future plans. The goal was to see each other again soon and, as often happens with old friends, that familiar ease was still there, as if not even a week had passed, despite the decade that had gone by.
And this wonderful evening, this rediscovered warmth, brought back vivid memories of a time when their friendship shone brightest: the night of 20 May 2012 – exactly thirteen years ago, today.
As often happened back then, on the evening of 19 May 2012, I went to bed very late. I read a book on my Kindle, then browsed something on my smartphone. I turned off the light around 1:15. I barely had time to drift off when I felt an earthquake tremor. I was born in a seismic zone, so I'm used to them, but I was living in an area considered non-seismic. It's the classic human error: to consider distant events in time (even if repeated) as things of the past, not cyclical. But I didn't know that yet.
I picked up my phone again. I thought, "If we felt it like this here, I wonder what the epicenter (which must be far away) must have felt!". But, after a few minutes, nothing appeared on any website. I decided to turn it off and go back to sleep.
04:04 – I wake up with the bed shaking violently. I hear the sound of shattering glass (I'd later discover it was glasses in various neighbors' homes), objects falling in the house, alarms blaring, collapses – and these were my main concern, as I couldn't pinpoint their origin. I sit up in bed and turn on the light. A few seconds later, the power goes out, plunging me back into darkness. I wait – even though the tremor seemed endless. I trusted in the recent construction of the house (built just 4 years prior) and the good work done by the builder.
As soon as this first jolt ended, the power came back on, though only for a short time. Meanwhile, I threw something on over my pajamas and headed outside. Despite it being late May, it was a cold night. The power came back on again, and the earth started to shake once more, almost as violently as before.
All the neighbors rushed outside – I have a bit of experience, unlike most of them, and in the general panic, I suggested we move away from the roofs: in such cases, the probability of a chimney or tiles falling is high, so the safest place was undoubtedly the parking lot at the end of the street, with nothing overhead.
The tremors continued, one after another, along with the sounds of nearby and distant collapses. As soon as the situation calmed down a bit and the first light of morning began to help, a neighbor and I did a rough external reconnaissance. We saw nothing unusual. The phones, both voice/SMS lines and data, were all down. The only thing working was the fixed ADSL internet connection (so, cable or Wi-Fi). I immediately sent a message (and email) to reassure my parents who, I knew, would be getting up shortly for work and would hear the news on TV. "Strong earthquake, we've all been in the street since 4 – no problems, house seems okay too".
I went back inside and started making breakfast, turning on the TV to get the news. There was only a small ticker at the bottom, a preview: "Magnitude 5.9 earthquake North of Bologna". The tremors, though frequent, were of varying intensity but definitely less severe than the first one.
I hear the doorbell. It's my friend/neighbor. He starts yelling for me to get out, to join them. He's worried about me. He put himself at risk, coming back towards the houses, just to find me and call out.
I reassured him. I went back to my breakfast, then, calmly, went outside again. After a few minutes, an SMS arrived from dear friends who live about 100 km away; they too had been woken up and had run into the street (despite being far from the epicenter, which was about 8 km from my house). Having read about the epicenter, they wanted news from me and were ready to get in their car and rush over. All good, I reassured them. But they started insisting I join them and get away. I declined. I wasn't afraid.
The day passed amidst SMS messages, calls, news, and tremors of varying strength. I took the car out – and saw devastation and collapses everywhere. Meanwhile, my friends/neighbors kept checking on me to see if everything was alright. It was, more for me than for them.
Evening arrived. Everyone organized to sleep outside their homes. Some in tents, others had moved away from the epicenter; my friends/neighbors went to sleep in their car in the parking lot of the nearby shopping center – an area where Protezione Civile had set up some stands for the displaced. They insisted I go with them, parking our cars close together, for peace of mind. I declined. I would sleep at home. On the sofa, next to the front door, but at home. In case of strong tremors, I'd rush out. But I preferred to stay in my house.
The night passed fairly quietly, with many tremors waking me (some quite noticeable) but without events like the previous night. At dawn, I got up and opened the windows. Shortly after, my friends/neighbors arrived, looking for me. They wanted to make sure I was okay. They wanted to make sure everything was alright.
When I left that house, my real sorrow was losing the closeness with these people. Because, in a moment like that, their first thought was to make sure I was okay. Even risking their own safety.
I hope it won't be another 10 years before we see each other again. We have some great plans, and I'll do my best to make them happen as soon as possible.