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February 6 - February 17, 2022
Many years ago, in Trespiano, Italy, Filomena Fontana, a plain, bitter girl whose younger sister was blessed with beauty, cursed all second-born Fontana daughters to a life without love.
You see, I adore crazy people. Those who are crazy to explore. Crazy to laugh. Crazy to create. The ones who embrace broken bones and broken hearts, who risk failure and welcome surprises. I suspect you’re one of these people.”
“Do me one favor, please? Stop apologizing when you’re not sorry.”
“To me, love is more like a lending library. To keep it, we must continually renew it. Otherwise we pay a hefty fine.”
“I am where I want to be,” he said in his broken Italian. “Hearing your voice is enough. I do not need to understand the words.”
“You should have chosen a more fitting pseudonym. The rose is much too thorny. You are more like the beautiful Mohn, bold and radiant.”
Fifty-nine years later, I can still feel the touch of the only man I’ve ever truly and completely loved.
“Rico is the man I will meet on the steps of the Ravello Cathedral.”
It strikes me that my aunt and my cousin aren’t really so different. Both are hoping against hope that one day, love will keep its promise.
“Hiraeth!” Poppy cries, and claps her hands. “Do you know this Welsh word? It’s a feeling not easily translated into words. A deep longing for home, a nostalgia—a yearning—for the place that calls to your soul.”
“Money is a tool, not a treasure.”
I’m strangely proud of this woman who displays her style—and her heart—so fearlessly.
“Venice is a maze. You’ll never find your bearings. I always say, when you feel lost or confused, consult your heart. It’s your most reliable source of navigation.”
“Oh, Luciana, be on the lookout for childhood joy, won’t you? I fear you have lost yours.”
“To symbolize their love for water,” Poppy says, “Venetian mythology claims a gondolier is born with webbed feet.” “Who cares about webbed feet?” Lucy says in perfect Italian. She raises her eyebrows. “I prefer a very long oar.”
“Luciana, you slay me!”
But here I was, the second daughter, in love—yes, in love—with a man who was engaged to be married.
“It seems you take pleasure in painting storm clouds, Luciana.”
All this time you’ve been told what to believe. Imagine the power in deciding what it is you hold to be true.”
“It’s fascinating, isn’t it, how, when someone tells us something about ourselves—good or bad—we try so desperately to prove them right.”
We ignore what our heart tells us when we think it could make someone love us.”
Make it riveting! Make every scene sizzle! When it comes time to watch the movie of your life, may tears run down your face, may you scream with laughter and cringe with embarrassment. But for Goddess’s sake, do not let your life story be one that’s so dull you fall asleep during the viewing.”
There are no words when one has witnessed magic.
“Rico and I never broke up. We’re still together, in our hearts.”
“You’ve never watched the world turn to Technicolor when you’ve spotted your love in the crowd.”
“You’ve never felt like you were going to die if you didn’t get to hold him one more time.”
“Beauty is overrated. I’d choose interesting over beautiful any day.”
“I’ve found life much sweeter when I choose to believe the best of others, rather than the worst.”
“Being lost is where the beauty lies. Lost in a book. Lost in someone’s eyes. Lost in a symphony so sweet it brings you to tears.” She smiles. “Lost in a beautiful floating city on a starry night. This is magical, yes? It’s being found that’s the disappointment.”
I might seek to get lost once in a while. Because now I know that’s where the beauty lies.
“True intimacy is a connection of the mind as well as the body,”
We ignore what our heart tells us when we think it could make someone love us.
Do not look back in sadness, but only in love, a reminder of a sweet time when two souls collided in song.
“It is a soft bread filled with meat.” “I’m all about meat,” she says.
🤣🤣🤣
“I say this road has more curves than Aphrodite.” I smile. “I was thinking Beyoncé.”
“Love. Forgive. Love again. Forgive again. That, my dear girl, is the circle of love.”
“You see, most people create a spark. Sparks are fine. But you, my love, are a flame.”
“You will find, Emilia, life is not always a circle. More often, it’s a tangled knot of detours and dead ends, false starts and broken hearts. An exasperating, dizzying maze, impossible to navigate and useless to map.” She squeezes my hand. “But not a single corner nor curve should ever, ever be missed.”
Sofia is one cool woman. And so are you.”
LGBTQ+ characters
We chose love. PF & EK
“Remember to spread your sunshine. Never underestimate the importance of your light to someone living in a bank of clouds.”
“One of life’s loveliest moments is witnessing another person’s grace.”
Those who cannot win hearts with love often control people with fear.”
