I loved to sit in Mrs LaManza's kitchen. In the winter time I would take a seat by the stove where I could rest a while and warm up. She would always speak to me of her life, her family and her children , often Sara would come in and sit with me. One day there was a large book full with photos sitting on her
kitchen table. I asked if I could see it . It contained photos of all kinds of people , some old , some young and there were even photos of Sara and her brother when they were babies. Sara sat next to me and pointed to each photo and told me the names of the people, it seemed like they had a story to tell about each one.
Sara took a photo out and said this is my favorite Uncle. Every Christmas he comes over and tells the same jokes and stories, I guess Uncle Johnny forgets that we already heard these stories several times over, but he will make you laugh because he is so expressive with his mannerisms and he talks with his hands , Sara started moving her hands in a frantic manner, I would laugh at the way she would tell stories, she always made me laugh and more than anything I just loved being near her.
I finally did get to meet Uncle Johnny one Christmas, and sure enough he began to tell his jokes and of course I laughed , because they were all new to me . He knew that he had a good listener in me so he began a story about himself that happened on a Christmas eve not that long ago, and with his hands in motion he began;
Do you believe in fate? Or is fate just a random act of coincidences ?.
As always when Christmas eve comes around that is when I begin my Christmas shopping , its just a habit with me, I am a last minute shopaholic. Every year I tell my self to start early but I always make excuses until the time is almost up and I have no choice, you have to scramble and shop quick.
This one particular year I really did not have anyone to shop for, oh sure the usual bunch of suspects, Father, mother , sister and brother, but I mean, you know, someone special that can really make this time of year very beautiful and enjoyable, or any time of year for that matter.
You know it always seemed like I struck out when it came to the game of love, when I was supposed to be making a right turn, I was going left, and when it was a left turn, you guessed it I was going right.
....Until this one year though...
You know when you are alone for sometime, you seem to turn things off, things just seem to go into a state of comatose, I guess its nature 's way of conserving batteries, at that time if a woman smiled at me , I would turn around to see if there was someone standing behind me, I was just a dud in the game of love....
.
.....Until this one year though....
Pointing at Sara he said that one year her mother and his mother started a new tradition, they would diet all year but they would eat a dozen cannolis on Christmas eve. Uncle Johnny would pause to see our reaction, he then said , just kidding, they would only eat one each and I ate the other ten, saying that he started laughing out loud at his own joke. It was kind of infectious as I and Sara both started cracking up laughing.Pointing at Sara , he said, your mother called me several times that day telling me don't forget the cannoli ! this was followed up by a call from my Mother who said whatever you do, don't forget the cannoli !
Like I was saying, it was Christmas eve, it was late afternoon, the sun was setting and I was just starting my Christmas shopping , I hurried over to Termini bakery and I noticed this girl in there shopping too, she was absolutely gorgeous, so I knew right off the bat that she would have no interest in me, so I ignored her, he then pointed to me and said "Kid if you want someone, ignore them, they will think that there is something wrong with themselves , they will go into the bathroom, check their make up , fix their hair, check every thing and then check it again. They will then show interest in you, I wouldn't lie to you kid.
With his hands now in fourth gear he continued his story,
So after completely ignoring this beautiful girl, I paid for the cannoli and went a block down to this candy shoppe, they added an extra "pe" on the end of that , so ypu know it means it's special ! Remember that kids he said pointing to Sara and me.
He then continued, Well I'm minding my own business picking out my assortment, picking out the wrapping paper , choice of one ,everybody was rushing in a state of panic, I didn't even notice the beautiful woman that was in Termini was now standing right next to me. Looking at me he said, what did I tell you kid about ignorance! I didn't notice her soft shiny hair and how the light made it glistened, I didn't notice how her smile made her eyes sparkle, I didn't notice the smell of her intoxicating perfume, and you know what ,it's not just the perfume, it's the person wearing it that makes it intoxicating, PERSON + PERFUME = INTOXICATING, you could spray a whole bottle on a skunk but it will still be a skunk. Remember that kid !, pointing to me. He continued on,
In the clerks rush she accidentally gave my credit card to the pretty beautiful gorgeous woman standing next to me, and she got my card, it was a good thing I checked, she had finished her purchase before me and was almost a block away when I ran after her to tell her what happened.
When she turned towards me it was then that it hit me, I felt my batteries kick in, It was as if I found the remote control for my heart and clicked it on, have you ever met somebody and you just know? You know that there is some kind of bond, it could be a smile or a touch of the hand that sends a jolt of electricity to your heart, the brain then kicks in later.
I turned and looked at Sara and knew exactly what he meant.
He then continued , I explained to her what happened and we exchanged cards, when she opened up her wallet there was a photo of a pretty young girl who was about three years old, I remember thinking to myself, "oh no she's married", but my heart kept saying "talk to her".
We walked along a little bit and she told me her name, which is Jenny, she was on her way to work at a diner up the street, it was one of the few places that are opened late on Christmas eve . She said that she took this shift because she was a single mom and she wanted to have off Christmas day so she could be with her daughter Beth Ann, who was being watched by her Mother.
We talked as we walked, and there was just a sense of feeling very comfortable with her, the conversation just flowed, I had intended just to walk her to the diner, but she invited me in for coffee, the coffee became a six course dinner followed by desert and another cup of coffee. Needless to say the tradition of having cannolis on Christmas eve was temporarily postponed that year.
Yep! fate or coincidence , it could be either one, sometimes they both smile on you, I'm doing fine now, hey honey he called to a young girl across the room, please come over here, the little girl came over to us, she put her tiny hand into the hand of Uncle Johnny, he said , this is my beautiful daughter , Beth Ann, she looks just like her mother Jenny, the little girls face beamed as she looked up at Uncle Johnny and he pointed to Jenny who was across the room. Hey kids , would you care for a cannoli?
