Not everyone is so lucky as I am to have the best brother-in-law ever. This post is about him.
Davide and Carlo could not be more different. If you know Davide, you know that he is the life of the party, has endless energy, super chatty, and a complete jokester. Carlo couldn’t be more different. He’s reserved, serious, and a thinker. However, they both have so much in common. They’re meticulous, organized, picky but somehow also open-minded. Physically they’re also very different but somehow look exactly the same.
The first time I met Carlo was the dinner at Davide’s mom’s house (the one with the apple pie disaster). Carlo laughed at all of Davide’s jokes and translated them for me the entire dinner. His English is impeccable. He works incredibly hard at it and it shows. Carlo looks out for me whenever Davide tries to play language tricks on me (which are becoming increasingly difficult as my Italian improves…Ha!). That being said, he’s sure to get in a good laugh before he lets me in on the joke.
We really bonded about a year ago when Carlo decided to come to the US for a few months to study English and become TOEFL certified. At the time, we lived in a one bedroom apartment. Carlo is VERY independent and tried to find a place to stay that’d be nearby but also give him some freedom. But because of a time crunch (and begging from Davide and I), he decided we stay with us. I think all three of us were nervous about him staying in our living room for so long, but it was perfect. None of us fought once. Davide and I joke that our apartment was cleaner and more organized than it was when he wasn’t staying with us. I cried a LOT when he left.
Because of his disposition, Carlo is a VERY good secret keeper. While he was in NYC studying, we got his resume together and he applied for jobs. We were all a little disappointed when he didn’t get any interviews before heading back to Italy. That being said, he was back in September for our wedding. He got a call asking him to come in for an interview. The interview was September 19th. The day of our wedding. Again, since he’s so calm and cool, Carlo somehow, without ANYONE knowing, put on a suit, went to an interview, nailed it and played best man at our wedding. A few days later, he got an offer he couldn’t refuse. Carlo was moving to America.
Davide and I were thrilled! Our hearts sank at the idea that the last Ortolan son would be moving to America. But their mother was supportive and knew this was an amazing opportunity for him. After a LOT of bureaucracy (a recurring theme in our lives now with immigration laws), Carlo got his work visa and moved here this past Wednesday.
For months, Davide and I prepped his bedroom (luckily we now have 2), wondered if he’d like the color we picked, the carpeting in his room, his bedding, does he have enough pillows? About 10 days before his arrival, I got an email from Carlo. The date and times of his flights and that was it. I hadn’t heard from him until he was standing in my living room, here to stay indefinitely. That’s the difference between Carlo and Davide. Davide wanted to talk about his arrival for weeks, Carlo sent a cryptic email about his flights and showed up.
This all being said, two brothers couldn’t be closer. Carlo is Davide’s best audience and Davide is Carlo’s biggest fan. Davide and I joke that we’re constantly competing for Carlo’s attention. When he got to our apartment we both wanted to show him everything. “Do you like the wallpaper in the bathroom?” I asked. Davide called him to the our wine fridge, “Carlo! Carlo! Look at this! Isn’t it cool?” “Yeah, it’s great.” Carlo would reply. One of the cutest things was when we showed Carlo his room. Davide told Carlo to open the top drawer of the small empty dresser we had put in there. He had bought Carlo several little gifts: headphones for the commute, a razor with his name engraved on it, and to top it off, Diablo III (a video game for my female readers).
Since he’s been here, they’ve been playing the game every night. They think they’re completely different, but they sit on the couch together in the exact same configuration. Right foot tucked under their left thigh, controller low in their laps, angled slightly to the left. It’s clear they share a significant amount of genetics.
