(This article courtesy of The Catholic Review.)
By Christopher Gaul
They had long dreamed of retiring in Italy where her grandparents were born, but they hadn’t expected to find themselves traveling there unexpectedly, out of work, with just two suitcases and no immediate prospects.
That’s what happened to Baltimore artist and writer Ginda Ayd Simpson and her husband, Mike, and that’s what led to the publication of her profoundly moving and entertaining new book, Deeply Rooted, In Faith and Family.
While Ginda and Mike Simpson were in Baltimore recently to visit their daughter and brand-new twin grandchildren, they got the word out about Ginda’s book and the bed and breakfast they operate from their 400-year-old renovated farmhouse in Perugia, in the green heart of Italy that is Umbria.
“What a journey it’s been,” said Mrs. Simpson.
In a sense, the journey began 100 years ago when Mrs. Simpson’s Italian grandfather immigrated to America, finding his way to Baltimore where he worked paving roads mostly.
It was also a journey of faith, as has been Mrs. Simpson’s life. She credits her parents for nourishing that faith she had somewhat taken for granted until it was tested by turmoil and her leap into the unknown after her husband lost his job as a geologist in a company merger.
They had been in Cairo, where Mr. Simpson was looking for oil and gas in the Nile delta, for six years when the corporate ax fell in 1999.
They had few options. Either they would return to Houston where they had lived before the move to Cairo, but they had long ago sold their house there and a job possibility was temporary at best, or they would live out their retirement dream of moving to Italy.
And Mrs. Simpson could live out another dream, writing the book that turned out to be Deeply Rooted.
“I’d been wanting to write it for more than 20 years,” she said. “It was inside me. I had an oral history of my family from visiting them over the years but I just didn’t have enough information.”
On the day the movers came to pack their belongings for storage in Cairo, Mrs. Simpson began to write even though she didn’t know where the story was going to lead. She had some experience in the writing of her first book, Morning of Light, an Egyptian Journal, profusely illustrated with her vivid paintings, but this was to be a work of even greater love.
The book describes the major life transition the Simpsons went through, but most of all it is an enthralling and often poignant story of, as its author puts it, “our Italian family’s love, strength and faith that together gave root to my dream and the faith required to nurture and preserve the abundant spiritual harvest that is our legacy as grandchildren of Italian-Americans and inheritors of the Catholic faith.”
Mrs. Simpson had an offer from a publisher but she was keen, almost desperate to get the book into the hands of her 80-year-old mother, and knew that its publication would take at least 18 months. So, she decided to publish it herself, leading to yet another adventure — trying to raise the money, asking friends and acquaintances if they would be willing to buy the book ahead of time.
She and Mike are happy in the lovely Umbrian countryside where she continues to paint and to write while Mike works the land. Their farmhouse turned bed and breakfast is called El Marsam, an Arabic name that means the artist’s studio, and the Simpsons are very proud of it and what they have done.
“It represents our dogged determination to work hard, live simply, love abundantly and to share our blessings with all who visit,” Mrs. Simpson said.
For the most part it has been friends and family who have come to visit, but through word of mouth the news has spread to the friends of friends. Even though Mrs. Simpson’s book has a limited circulation, she hopes it will tempt others to come, to enjoy the farmhouse’s rustic interior with its thick whitewashed walls, terracotta floors, original stone fireplaces and massive chestnut ceiling beams.
“It doesn’t get much better than that,” said Mrs. Simpson.
If you’re interested in the book, Deeply Rooted, call 410-825-2000.
