The sky is beginning to darken as we walk along cobblestone streets, the sunset licking the horizon. Blue sky giving way to pinks and oranges, deepening into a hazy purple. We are searching for a place to eat dinner, where we’d not only satiate our hunger, but the stabbing pain in our feet after walking all day would finally cease.

As we pass brightly lit shops and thriving market stalls, I realize almost every restaurant features row after row of mismatched tabletops and chairs along the exterior. Clinking silverware mixing with laughter and the melody of libation wafts in our direction. This is not something I’m used to.

Of course, restaurants back home have outdoor seating, but I come from a household that never sat outside to eat.

“Ma’am, would you like patio or indoor seating?”

“Indoor,” my mother would reply without fail, every single time.

Even when the weather was ideal, the sun was shining, the breeze was light, and the humidity low, indoors we sat. Memories of walking up to restaurants at home, observing other families sitting outside on the patio play in my mind like a movie reel. Everyone looks so much happier out here.

We walk up to a restaurant with 4 or 5 tables draped with red and white plastic checkerboard tablecloths and cheap white chairs right outside the front door. We take the table closest to the heater, the night having developed a slight chill. My feet scream in relief the moment the pressure shifts. As we wait for our food, we sip wine and watch people walk by on the street.

Our food arrives and I’m twirling pasta on my fork, alternating bites of my meal with sips of wine. Before long, I find myself overcome with the sensation of newness. I’m only eating pasta at a table on the street in Rome, but it’s the choice of it all. I chose to eat my meal outside. No one’s voice is louder than mine here. No one other than me gets to decide what I do or don’t. I get to make choices, whether big or small, whether I want to or not. My perspective on my own life shifts in this moment.

“Ma’am would you like patio or indoor seating?” “Patio, always,” I would respond.