Towards the end of dinner, Aldo arrived for a visit. Best described as a character, Aldo is comfortable being the centre of attention. With his expressive faces and grand gesticulations he was the perfect subject for photography, or so my mom thought. The trouble with photographing Aldo is that even at eighty plus years of age, the guy moves around like a hummingbird. He doesn’t stay still, not even for a second. During his short visit he also earned the title of “The Master of Exits”. Having closed out one topic of conversation, he waved his hand and left the room only to return to start another discussion mere seconds later. He did this upwards of 15 times.
The story of Aldo as I understood it is thus. He was a teenage sweetheart of my zia’s sister Maria. But Maria and Aldo went their separate ways, Maria marrying a man in Canada and Aldo marrying a woman here in Northern Italy. Many years later, Maria’s husband was dead and Aldo had separated from his wife…the two of them found each other and lived together as “conviventi” for twenty years until Maria’s death. Aldo remains close with the few members of Maria’s family that are still around…love endures.
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