2005 begins

The year 2005 was a period so crazy, sometimes I cannot believe how I am still around.

The first three months of the year, it was so depressing.

I was working for Boeing and working from home.

During the week-days, my only contact with living beings, was with my 2 cats and with my dog.

I started to have a habit to go to a coffee shop, named hotwire, where I made friends with everybody.

The reality was I was waking up alone, I was working alone, and spending the whole day alone.

Besides the coffee shop, I would dial phone numbers of my Italian friends and the number of my parents.

March 2005 was coming, and a lot of things in my life, were about to change.

The Day Before Christmas

I work as a Web Designer.

I don't think to be that bad, otherwise you woudn't believe that Micosoft, Boeing, Washington Mutual and Cingular would hire me to work for them.

To tell you the truth, my life was exactly the life of my dreams.

But at the end of 2004, Stella told me about her intention to divorce me.

It was a shock for me. Of course we had some problems, like any couple married more than six years,

Another shock was she told me about the divorce on Christmas Eve...

Wedding Day

Some of my friends tell me, my love for the San Juan Islands is so big, I could be an ambassador for them.

We decided to get married on Orcas Island after a couple of hours we were there... and it was the best thing I ever did in my life.

We marry on May 2nd, and even the weather was very nice with us.

At the end of April, it was a thunderstorm that cooled our enthusiasm.

We were in the car, driving to downtown Seattle, and the visibiliy was so poor, for the rain, we both nearly had a nervous breakdown.

In Italy... and maybe even in America, there is this ridicilous sentence, that sound like a bad joke: "Sposa bagnata, sposa fortunata". Wet Spouse is a lucky one...

The person that wrote this phrase, liked to make fun of others.

If it rained on our wedding day, would be a big disaster.

Stella and I, decided, the same, to get married outdoors.

It was a miracle... but it was a very sunny day, and the idea we had, sounded very perfect.

If you go to Orcas, go to visit Rosario Resort.

They have a beautiful setting, where you can have your ceremony on the shore of the sea.

Our ceremony was very sweet, wonderful... and overall, the best a man can get.

We were in 30. My parents, my sister, and two friends, were there with us to share this beautiful moment.

My story is not a sad one.

I could make it sad, but crying on myself is not part of my DNA.

Overall, my second life began in February 1998.

I am not talking about the game.

I am Italian.

I desperately fell in love with a beautiful woman from Seattle.

We started to write in December 1995... then, the internet was so slow, it was faster to send the picture by regular mail.

Thinking about it, I am not sure the word attachment, existed at the time.

By the way, my name is Angelo.

We started to write to the other every day.

After 8 months, I decided to jump on an airplane and go to San Diego for 2 weeks, and to Seattle for 5 weeks.

I arrived in Seattle, on September the sixth.

Guess what. It was raining! I know it is very rare over there!!!!

Stella's apartment was small and adorable.

If you know Seattle, the apartment was 200 yards away from Green Lake.

We spent the whole evening, chatting and staring at the eyes ofthe other.

It took us only a few hours to fall in love with the other, and two days to understand we were going to be married.

I am going to explain more in details, later on, what happened between October 1996 and February 1998.

It was very long and difficult to get the visa to marry her.

At the end, I was able to move to America, taking the flights Rome-London and

London-Seattle on February 13th 1998, just in time to spend our first Valentine's day together.