Happy Birthday Cristina! Today you would have been seventy years old and our friendship forty-one years old. Health reasons keep me from attending the gathering honoring your day — my great loss. But instead I’ll take a trip with you down memory lane — back to 1972!

You drove up in your orange and black Fiat 850 sports car in your white nurse uniform, with long black hair and beautiful green eyes that spoke of humor and mischief, always of mischief!

Your first words to me were, “Cara mia! Speak to me in Italian, ah! ah!…” and you were the first Marcovecchio I fell in love with.

You always kept it simple: if there was a problem then there was a solution. Why were you not looking for the solution instead of complaining about it??

And you had HEART, a BIG, ENORMOUS, GIVING, and GENEROUS one.

I needed a car to go see Joe in Arizona. I never asked, but you simply handed me the keys of your precious Fiat and said, “if you so much as scratch it, I will kill you!”

There were summer asados at the Marcovecchio’s and elegant dinners at Petty’s. There was Michelle, whom you adored, and there was tango dancing. You and Juanca. It was a show to watch the two of you dancing the tango. Come to think of it, it was the only thing you two did without involving an argument!

You came back from Argentina with Petty, still pregnant with Kimberly, and glowing! You had found Manuel and were in love. I believe that it was that time when you started wearing mini skirts.

Kimberly was born the next year and you got married as did I. We had children and celebrated many holidays and birthdays together.

Life went on and we shared happiness, sadness, sorrow, and tragedy. Eventually I became an “ex” by law, but never by heart. Not from your heart nor from the rest of the family.

Even though you have been gone for a few months now, I still feel your presence and hear your voice giving me courage, hope and strength. Snapping me out of tears…pain…and depression…

…and I miss you!!

I heard it somewhere that after you’re gone “Heaven is a place where people hold you in their heart.”

You will always be in my heart!
Love you always,
Alba