Such a perfect early evening in Milan - cool and on the cusp of rain. Stefano and I had planned to meet at the center of town and then head home from work together. We were coming from opposite directions down the same street and when Stefano came into sight, on the opposite side of the road, he had a bouquet in his hand. It was a burst of color on the street, bright as fireworks at midnight, and it was for me.
He handed me the bouquet and I sniffed the flowers. And sneezed. I remember because we were in front of the little vintage shop that I love and Stefano laughed at my sneezing. Then we kept walking until we got to our favorite gelato shop where, of course, we stopped in because that's just what you do in Italy.
In one hand I had a cone topped with a smudge each of chocolate orange and pistacchio. In the other I had a surprise bouquet. The woman who owns the gelato shop who had just handed me my cone looked over the bouquet and asked if today was my birthday. My answer?
"No, solamente una vita bella in Italia."
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