FOR THE LOVE OF ISTANBUL

- Chapter 4 -

They made it to the 15 July Martyrs Bridge. Deb was excited beyond words, but she had to admit that she was surprised to find out that they could not cross it by foot. Mutlu smiled, and told her not to worry. She had it all taken care of and under control. She called her grandfather, and he showed up in his car out of nowhere. Deb was glad to see him, and he was even more glad to see her. Even more so, he was grateful to see that she wore his wife's birthday present. He complimented her on how perfectly the deep royal blue color of the scarf looked against her golden red storm of hair, in Turkish of course, so Mutlu had to translate it as usual. This made Deb's cheeks burn in fiery cherry hues, which only added to Deb's charisma, as Mutlu's grandfather mentioned to Mutlu.

When they got on the bridge, Mutlu's grandfather paid the entrance fee, and they drove toward the port of Üsküdar, where they would board the ferry boat that would take them to the Maiden's Tower, Deb asked if she could lower her window a bit and look at the view. And what a view it was! It was stunning. Breathtaking. Indescribable. A sudden thought ran through her mind. She recalled how many times, thousands if not more, she had looked at photographs of the 15 July Martyrs Bridge and hoped that she would be able to cross it one day. It was a bridge that symbolized to her the freedom and the possibility of dreams coming true. It was a bridge between the realms of hopes and reality. After all, the bridge did connect two continents of Europe and Asia...

As they drove across the bridge, Deb began to feel that she was meant to meet Mutlu. That it wasn't just some 'chance' meeting but one she was meant to experience in her life. Somehow and someway their paths were meant to cross. And she was now beginning to understand why. Looking at Mutlu sitting in the front passenger seat next to her grandfather, Deb realized that she spent more time looking at the two of them than she did looking out the window to see the view. There was something special in the way Mutlu saw the world. The way she accepted it. The way she showed affection and spoke of it. She did not pretend that it did not matter. Quite the opposite. It was as if she viewed the world through the prism of her heart. Or was it through the prism of love she was able to witness first hand because of her parents' and grandparents' love? At the same time, Deb did not find any bitterness in Mutlu for not finding that kind of love herself. That was a lesson Deb was beginning to see for herself - in herself. Deb felt that her heart began to slowly open up to what life had to offer aside from work, bills, and failed relationships. It was something Margaret told her so many times throughout the years of their friendship. And Deb began to see the truth in it now. It was the realization that once someone accepted themselves and their fate completely, they would be happy and content with themselves for the rest of their life, whether or not they had a beloved to share their life with.

When they reached the Maiden's Tower Ticket Booth on the Üsküdar Harem Sahil Yolu coast road, Mutlu's grandfather bid them farewell. He winked at Deb, smiled, and told her "İyi ki doğdun". Knowing that the phrase meant 'Happy Birthday' by now, Deb asked Mutlu to thank her grandfather for the birthday wishes. Mutlu smiled, and asked Deb if she knew the other meaning of that phrase? Deb shook her head. She didn't know that the phrase had different meanings. Mutlu smiled, leaned in, and explained that "İyi ki doğdun" also meant "It's good that You were born"...

Deb could not describe how she felt just then. She did not expect anything other than spending a few days in the city of her dreams when she was landing in Istanbul. Least of all finding a family. Because that's who they had become to her. Whether she knew them for a day or a decade. That did not matter. They mattered to her because she mattered to them, and they did not expect anything in return. That was something hard to find these days. Before leaving, Mutlu's grandfather asked if there was anything else that he could do for them because he headed back to work. Deb told him there was. She asked him to take a few photos with her, with both of them and the Maiden's Tower standing proudly and prominently behind them. They obliged her with sincere smiles on their faces, and Mutlu insisted on taking a few photographs of Deb, alone, with her dream of a Tower right beside her.