Excerpt
Two weeks prior to its arrival in Manhattan, Brother Anthony Lamberti had held the same letter in one hand while slipping his simple tortoiseshell glasses onto the bridge of his nose with the other. He stood on a terrace overlooking a serene green valley. The twilight sun cast just enough light on the Italian countryside for him to read the neatly handwritten words that Jonathan Brown had spent the entire day composing. The letter almost glowed.
“Please read it aloud for me,” Jonathan respectfully asked the older man.
Anthony’s deep melodic voice began.
“Dear Aunt Maddie,” he paused at the endearing salutation and wondered again about his young protégé’s aunt. He continued, his Italian accent transforming the words into near poetry.

“This letter must come as a surprise. I hope and pray that it will be a welcome one, although I wish it were being written under more favorable circumstances. Oh, Aunt Maddie, how I have missed you over the years. I have wanted to write to you many times but I didn’t know how to begin. There is much to tell you, and I fear that I may reveal too much or too little in this long overdue correspondence. How can I possibly update you on the last seven years? How can I possibly hope that you will be willing to hear what I have to say?
“Where to start? I suppose the best place would be with the most important news. Mom has cancer. Treatment isn’t working, and the doctors are not at all hopeful. Aunt Maddie, Mom is dying. She only has a few months to live. Dad left her, us, shortly after we arrived in Italy. For a young model in Milan. They got divorced and so Mom raised me by herself. I can only tell you how very sorry I am that you and Mom have spent so much time apart. She very much regrets the pain her actions caused you. I hope you can believe that.
“As to what became of me. I’m seventeen now, and a novice at Monastero de St. Valentine. Eventually, I will be a monk. Can you imagine having a monk as a nephew? While my decision to travel this path was an easy one, it has not been easy to explain to those closest to me. Least of all, Dad. But I hope to have the opportunity to explain it to you.
“And now for the real purpose of this letter. In short, Mom needs you. She would never dream of contacting you herself, and asking you to come to Italy, and neither has she asked me to contact you. But I know that seeing you would mean everything to her. I know it is a lot to ask. But I fear I would not be able to live with myself if I had not reached out on Mom’s behalf. And on my own behalf. You are my family and I have missed you. I, too, would love to see you and have my Aunt back in my life.
“Please consider this note an olive branch. And come to Italy.”



Anthony swallowed. He wondered what could have happened to keep sisters apart for so long. What could Madeline have done? But he was too private, too respectful of others’ privacy, to ask.
“Well?” Jonathan looked every bit the vulnerable young man he was.
“It is a good letter. Come. Let’s post it.”
Anthony placed a fatherly hand on Jonathan’s shoulder and guided him inside.