Halfway to Each Other: How a Year in Italy Brought Our Family Home

"Halfway to Each Other" is as funny as it is touching. I was drawn in from the first page and couldn't put this book down. The Pohlman family, on the brink of disaster, sell all of their belongings and head to Italy. Crazy? Yes! But it really happened. And Susan Pohlman kept a journal for the entire year they spent abroad, sharing the daily Pohlman adventures in this charming memoir. A must read! Halfway to Each Other: How a Year in Italy Brought Our Family Home

This is a beautiful story. I loved the author's honesty about her emotions and struggles. Pohlman did a lovely job describing the beauty of Italy and it made me long to see it for myself! The concept of this book is wonderful- this family take a huge leap of faith to save their marriage and family. The author learns to listen to God and THAT is a beautiful thing. I really enjoyed reading Halfway to Each Other and would definitely recommend it!

This book is about faith, love and the struggles a family endures to really be together... The courageous decision Susan and Tim made when they felt they were at the end of their marriage was stunning! The honesty, humor, and deep reflection shown in her writing made me wish to know this woman better. One favorite part was when they get off a train at the wrong station in Italy with their fourteen red suitcases. I laughed out loud! It makes me long to grab my family and run away to Europe. Read it, you will love it!

This is a true story about Susan and her 6'5" husband Jim who were on the brink of separation. Susan has felt empty, lonely and disillusioned for years. Just as she is about to break the news to her husband on the last day of a business trip in Italy, he says that he thinks it would be amazing to live there. Two months later their, house is sold, their belongings are in storage and they are heading to Italy. They lease an apartment, find the kids a school, learn to speak Italian, make friends immediately and find out that sometimes less is more. Susan and her husband notice the changes in the children quickly. With no TV, radio, cell phones, computers and friends, the start looking for each other to talk, play cards and play together. Susan and her husband, spend their days, cooking, shopping, playing and riding a Vespa around Italy. Susan's new friend's show them that just being, singing with abandon, dancing, sharing a glass of wine and spending time together are what matters. She starts to look at what really matters, Tim, and her two children. She finds out that living the unexpected life in Italy was like "finding the fountain of youth." I highly recommend this book. Most marriages suffer after years. We feel unfulfilled, unloved, unmotivated, uninspired and we blame the person we are with. Susan took the opportunity to realize that she was blaming her husband Tim for this "lost part of her soul." We all feel lost at times; Husbands, wives, kids all of us. It isn't the fault of the person we are with, it is how we process what is around us or how we let our surroundings affect us. Susan says that at the end of our lives we will be asked to answer two questions. Did we live fully? Did I love well? Can we all answer this positively? Probably not. This is something we should all aspire to. I had to laugh over some of the arguments Susan and Tim have. He makes a joke, she tries to joke back but he takes it as a personal attack and vice versa. It is my relationship with my husband exactly. "Little moments that create canyons between us." Susan puts into words what most of us will never be able to do. Thank goodness Susan and Tim took this year off to re-evaluate and find their way back to each other. In the long run, family is what matters. At the end of this book, I had to ask myself, could my husband and I survive no television, no jobs, kids at school, no phone, no friends? I highly doubt it! In A Nutshell: You will not regret buying this book. It is a fantastic book and I am so honored to have had the opportunity to read it. [...]