Letters to Italy

45. stars

That night

We drove to the beach with his car. I didn't know what the plan was exactly, but it was definately going to be romantic. And I had no problem with that so I just followed him as we walked on the sand. "Here we are!" he suddenly said and he stopped walking. "Wauw, it's wonderful here!" I said when I looked around, very surprised about the magical view. Dozens of little candles were placed in the sand. A wite blanket was laying in the middle of it all, but luckily far enough from the little candles to prevent it would be on fire soon. There even was some music playing. How was that possible? It was simple but wonderfull. I didn't need expensive dinners or presents. Just sitting with Gianluca on the beach was enough to make me the happiest girl in the world. But actually the only thing I really needed was Gianluca himself, not even this wonderful decorated piece of beach in Abruzzo.

"You can sit down!" Gianluca suggested. He did too. And so we sat next to each other, staring at the water that was moving back and forth in the sea. "I don't know whether you remember," Gianluca started off his little speech. "But today, it's exactly three years ago we did something." And then he kissed me on the lips. That's how I realized what he was trying to tell me. It was exactly three years ago we kissed for the first time, so three years ago we were officially a couple now. "How thoughtfull of you to think about that!" I smiled. But then gianluca looked serious again. "Unfortunatelly, we didn't stay together for the full three years, but my love for you never faided away!"

"The same here!" I said quickly to make sure he knew I always loved him, even though we weren't always together. "So I guess our hearts always stayed together," he smiled. "For three years already." I nodded to agree with him. "So it's now actually our third anniversary!"

"It is!" I said and kissed him on his soft lips. "But do you remember what I said one day?" I couldn't imagine what he was talking about. "I remember so much, but I don't really have an idea of what you're thinking about."

"Then I'll just say it!" he said. "Or better, I'll give you this." He lifted the blanket up and digged in the sand. A little plastic bag was reveiled. Inside of it, there was another beautiful bag. He took it and handed it to me. "Here you go." I was very curious. Normally I always guessed what the present was, but this time, I couldn't.

"A star?" I said surprised. It was a piece of cardboard in the shape of a star, plastered with little shiny stars and hearts in different colours. "Before you think up yourself a 'why' or 'what', I'll quickly explain it. So about three years ago, I said I was thinking of buying you a star. But I was wrong. A real star was not good enough. I decided to give the money and much more money then needed to buy a star, to a charity. I visited a house full of little orphans. Most of them still toddlers and some of them babies. When I told them my story, they wanted to make you a star. One you can really see all the time. So that's the story for the star you're holding now." I interrupted his explanation because he was not done talking but I couldn't keep calm anymore. "YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL!" I shouted while jumping into his arms and kissing him again. "You're the most beautiful person ever!" He smiled brightly after I said that. "This means so much more than a star up in the air!" I said while we were still holding each other thighly. "This means you are a good, sweet, friendly, wonderful, beautiful and very caring person! It means you are now officially the appropriate person to spend my entire life with! Forever!" He let his hand go through my hair. "Per sempre," he whispered. It still was our little code word. "Per sempre! And tonight," he said pointing to the sky, "I give you all of the stars! But you're so valuable to me, even a billion of stars wouldn't be enough!" We lied down now, on the blanket, the candles still burning around us. We looked to the sky full of beautiful stars. I never really saw a sky like that. And now I even could see a million of stars. With my hand in his hand we lied down for a long time, just looking in the air and loving each other.

Sento sul viso
Il tuo respiro
Cara come sei tu
Dolce sempre di più

He suddenly started singing a song, it was 'un amore cosi grande'. The music that was playing fitted perfectly together with the words he was singing. And the lyrics were perfect too. I still didn't speak a lot of Italian, but I definitely could figure out some words and the meaning behind it. It was about love, that was sure.

Per quello che mi dai
Io ti ringrazierei
Ma poi non so parlare

He kept singing and I listened. "Every evening should be like this," I thought. I was such a lucky girl. I was the girlfriend of Gianluca Ginoble, a wonderful singer.

E più vicino
Il tuo profumo
Stringiti forte a me
Non chiederti perchè

The way he sang every single word, the way he looked during singing... He did it with style and elegance.

La sere scende già
La notte impazzirò
In fondo agli occhi tuoi
Bruciano I miei
Un amore così grande
Un amore così
Tanto caldo dentro e fuori
Intorno a noi
Un silenzio breve e poi
La bocca tua si accende
Un'altra volta

He sang further until the end of the song. "Have I told you already I think you're the best singer in the entire universe?"

"I think so," he laughed, "but you can write the best letters! Better than me for sure!"

"Right, letters? Now we live together, letters are not nessecery anymore," I said, kinda feeling unhappy about that because it was always very excited to read his letters.

"We don't have to quit writing letters! We even can write more letters because it's for free now! We don't have to pay for it anymore. How nice is that?"

"You're right! I'll always write you letters. Even when I already told you everything in person or even when I'm standing next to you!"

"Me too. So it's a deal?"

"It's a deal!" I said proud.