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THE
FIRST TIME EVER I SAW HER FACE
The first time Tommy noticed her, she was standing next to him outside
the "Palmer" hotel waiting to hail a cab As one could imagine,
he was feeling pretty full of himself, having just signed a deal that
would make him a lot of money. But from the moment he saw her face the
self confidence that powered him just moments earlier with "Gustavo
'Big Gus' Faccio" was nowhere to be found and he remembered thinking,
"What could she possible see in a guy like me?" It begs the
question, "Why?" What makes a man think this way to "begin
with when he sees a beautiful woman? Popular opinion is it's a "guy
thing" in general. "We" never believe "we're"
good enough to satisfy the likes of a gorgeous woman with whom "we
really are" so, the egotistical actor takes center stage in scene
one and prepares the way for the main character in hiding to be introduced
at the appropriate moment usually at some time well into the relationship.
Young, beautiful, graceful and confident, she was at first glance what
any man would want, but can she cook? (Eh), I'm jus sayin" - It's
an Italian thing). Her presence and Sicilian beauty was more than Tommy
B. could take in with just a single look and he tried desperately not
to stare. It was easy not to speak because he was in fact speechless.
Those brief moments next to her seemed like forever and without a word,
as a cab slowly rolled to a stop, Tommy instinctively stepped off the
curb, reached for the cab door and said in her native tongue, "mi
scusi signora, mi consenta per favore" which means, "excuse
me ma'am, allow me please." He never forgot the look on her face.
How it changed in an instant and how time seemed to stand still between
them. He could tell she thought at first that he was just being rude
- about to take her cab, but in that moment, he sensed a spark and connection
unlike anything he'd ever felt before as the unfamiliarity literally
melted away and they went from being total strangers to two people whom
they thought they knew or perhaps had met before. "Gratzie, signor,"
was all that she said, but with her eyes she spoke something more and
in their eyes, "prego" which is to say "You're welcome"
and "We'll meet again soon" as they said in unison, "Ciao"
("goodbye") for now.
The French describe
this experience as Deja' vu' or, something you relive. The Italians
call it "Amora!" As the cab pulled away, a magical moment
was all that remained. No name, no address, no phone number - nothing
except the reality that life is all about what happens in the moments
between us. Like seeds are they planted and then grow and when fully
grown they bless or, haunt us. He would again see the Bella Principessa
or "Beautiful Princess" (the only name that came to mind)
and when he did, the seed of an unpretentious kind gesture unintentionally
sown in a single moment that fell upon a passionate and receptive heart
would forever change his life.
Se si tratta di una
rosa non sara' Bloom ( If it is a rose it will Bloom)
"What
we call the beginning is often the end and to make an end is to make
a beginning. The end is where we start from". T.S. Eliot
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