HOW IT ALL STARTED

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Once upon a time there was, as the French like to say, "une femme d'un certain âge"--and a very risk-averse one, at that--so much so that she would rarely leave her nest. But she had a husband who did not suffer from this problem, and a prince of a son who is an expatriate writer who thought she needed a project.

As a birthday present from my husband, I received Under the Tuscan Sun--the book that first pried me out of my nest for a trip to Italy. If you can swing it--if your generous 91-yr-old mother-in-law, the only member of the family with any money sense--leaves you some dough--you can see if two nests are better than one.

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