Lady in Red

I was in bed fast asleep when I was awakened by the ship’s Captain’s voice over the intercom: This is your Captain wishing you a good morning.  We will be cruising into Venice at 10 am.  Be on deck 17 to witness our grand entrance into the city of love.

City of Love! Who cares, I thought, pulling the sheet over my head to cocoon myself from being inVenice-Alone, Heartbroken and Depressed.

I didn’t have this same feeling of dread in Florence, Naples or the other Mediterranean cities as I tried to forget my break-up. But this was different.  I was in Venice on my honeymoon, alone. It was too much for me to bear.

I exhaled wearily.  Running away to the Mediterranean and being alone on a ship with more than 3,000 people was indescribably lonely.  The ship was filled with honeymooners and the chapel was bustling with love-birds making promises to love each other for a lifetime everyday at sea.  And as my luck would have it, the chapel was located right next door to the computer room…so, everyday when I sent an email home, I had to walk by the chapel, see the happy couples and face the inevitable:  everyone was happy, in love and getting married-everyone except me.  Even the empty chair next to mine in the dining room was a constant harsh reminder that I was alone with a group of happy couples in love.

I sat up in bed and looked out the window and suddenly realized that love is real-I was surrounded by it daily.  And that was a good thing.  It gave me hope. And with that epiphany, I leapt out of bed, determined to embrace my life and new future.  No more pity party.  I had a life to live and I wanted it to begin in Venice.

After I showered, I put on enough make-up to cover a continent and puffy eyes and slipped into a va-va-va-voom outfit.  I was in Venice!  In a red dress!  And I was going to find my smile, once and for-all.

I raced to the top deck and entered the city of love and enchantment, in a red spandex dress and new outlook on life.  I squeezed in between hundreds of passengers to stand by the railing and see Venice from a bird’s eye view-something most people will never see by land. Tear-drop size rain drizzled delicately over us and a light mist covered the city.

Over the intercom, Andrea Bocelli’s beautiful tenor voice began singing in Italian “Time to Say Goodbye.” Tears flowed down my cheeks. The song touched my heart and changed me profoundly.

I suppose it’s all about perception-the glass ½ empty or the glass ½ full---it just depends upon who’s pouring and who’s drinking.  And so, on the balcony, I said goodbye to the past and welcomed the future.  Who knew that night, I’d meet a tall, dark handsome man in San Marco Square who would capture my heart and bring a smile to my face.