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The world’s most famous couple of all time were Italian, naturally. Romeo and Juliet, those star-crossed lovers who have, since their creation by Shakespeare, inspired poetry, songs, movies, the ballet and of course a very popular tourist attraction in Verona.
I confess to standing under Juliet’s balcony in this beautiful Italian city and feeling a surge of love or romance, that warm fuzzy feeling that sometimes sneaks up on us Hollywood style.
I thought I might be cynical once we got there but no, I fell hook, line and sinker for it all.
We’d gone to Verona to mark the first anniversary of our meeting. Believe it or not, we felt Romeo and Juliet had played a part in our own stars crossing.
I’d read many years ago about the wall underneath Juliet’s balcony. It was said that if you wrote a letter to her and added it to the wall, Juliet would find a way to help you in matters of the heart. It’s not important that she’s fictional, or that even if she weren’t, she would have been around sometime in the fourteenth century. Letter writers from all over the world continue to place their woes in her hands, hopeful that the magic of Juliet will solve the glitches in their love life.
It always struck me as a beautiful thing that there’s a whole team of nonne, grandmothers, in Verona, who take these letters, read them, and if there’s a return address, write back with advice, or words of encouragement, to never give up on love.
In 2018, my youngest son was going to Verona. “Tom, write me a letter to Juliet when you’re there”, I said. “Let’s see if she can sort me out!”
When Tom came home I asked, “Well, did you?” And yes he did. I was dying to know what he’d written and definitely wasn’t expecting this reply. He wrote:
“Dear Juliet,
Please find my mam someone who isn’t an awful feckin eejit”.
Short. Sweet. Unapologetically Irish. Spot on. Messers need not apply.
Only three weeks later FabItaliano popped up on the dating app I was scrolling through… “Hmmm, Italian.. I really should meet him”, I thought.. And here we are. Five years later, 1390km south of Verona, living our shared dream in Sicily, loving that our stars aligned. We’re open to giving Juliet (and Tom) a lot of the credit.
We’re happy that the most famous Italian love story of all, had a hand in our own. In some hidden corner of our new home, we’ll add Juliet’s words so they’re woven into the fabric of our life here..
My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite.
Romeo and Juliet; Act 2, scene 2
