Honey & Curfew with Hiliry Harvey (Ep. 2)

About This Episode

There are moments when logic says no, but something inside says yes. This is one of those stories.

Hiliry Harvey was twenty years old, living in Rome on a shoestring budget, waiting six months to audition for the Santa Cecilia Conservatory. To save an extra ten dollars, she moved into a pensione with a strict midnight curfew. Each night, she wandered to Trastevere and found her way to Da Enzo—a tiny ten‑table trattoria where you located the owner by listening for someone yelling "Enzo! Enzo!"

One night, two strangers sat at her table. Severio (Italian, burly) and Holly (German, skinny). They invited her to a private club called Cabanon. Guitars hung on the walls. Then, suddenly, every guitar came down, and the night dissolved into singing and playing. But the clock was ticking. 11:30. Curfew at midnight.

"I gotta go," Hiliry said.

Holly replied: "That's ridiculous. Come live in my house."

She didn't know him. Severio vouched for him—and she didn't know Severio either. But something felt right. She said yes. She lived in Holly's house for six months. He was kind, gone most of the time working in Africa, and had a girlfriend. It was, as Hiliry puts it, "a very sweet moment."

Covered not in pan (bread) but in miele—honey.

A Word from Christina

"This is a Pan de Dios moment covered with honey. The big trust. The feeling of joyousness. Hiliry reminds us that sometimes the most sacred invitations come from people whose names we don't even know."
— Christina Johnson, host

Share Your Own Pan de Dios Moment

Have you ever trusted a stranger and found a home? Or said yes when every practical bone in your body said no? We'd love to hear your story. Reach out through my contact page.

With love,

Christina Johnson