Love Interrupted
CBC Documentary Francesco Alongi, restaurateur at Don Francesco Ristorante called me in late June, on a Saturday morning about the time restaurant proprietors have finished their second espresso, to tell me the story of how, in addition to building his new restaurant, his life was about to change. A half hour later, after listening to his deeply personal story, a tale of love lost and regained that might have come from a Donizetti opera, I knew his tale was something others must hear.

Alongi had met the love of his life in the summer of 1962, when he was working at the Norfolk Hotel in the English resort town of Bournemouth. He and a friend had just finished work and sauntered out to a garden-"It was a lovely early summer afternoon," he remembers-when they met some young women. One of them was Geraldine Salmond. "I mentioned that I worked in a hotel and that I was studying opera. In a low voice, I sang to her. She loved it. I asked if I could see her after work and she, with a beautiful smile, said yes. She was 18. I was 21.

"We started to see a great deal of each other. Soon she asked me if I would come to her house for tea, to meet her family. When I met her parents, her father asked me if I was studying singing. When I said yes, he asked me if I would have an audition with the secretary of the Light Opera Company. I agreed, as long as Geraldine could come with me. On July 13, 1962, I had the audition. I was declared good enough to be an opera singer. Dr. Salmond found me a famous singing teacher in England, Mr. G. Delni of the Bel Canto Voice Productions. He happily took us both twice a week to these lessons.

"After our lessons, we used to go to the studio in her house where she would accompany my singing with piano. One of the most beautiful songs I learned with her was 'Torna a Surriento' ('Come Back to Sorrento'), one of the loveliest songs of the time. Geraldine and I became inseparable-we were very much in love."

Then, one day, a distraught Geraldine arrived at the door of Alongi's apartment. "She said, 'My love, something horrible has happened. My parents just received a letter asking them to be transferred to the West Indies. I don't want to go. I want to stay with you.'" The young couple had no choice. Geraldine was still a minor.

"The worst experience of my life was early in the new year of 1963 when I went to the hotel gardens to say goodbye to my love. She held me very tight, close to her heart, and cried on my shoulder. She said that she didn't want to go and asked me to take her away. That's when her father came and literally pulled her out of my arms and told her to behave like a lady. She was crying and screaming, 'I don't want to go!' And that was the last time I saw her."

The pair kept in contact for two years, until Alongi heard that Geraldine was becoming seriously involved with someone else. Disconsolate, he abandoned his singing career. He married a woman he met in Scotland. Thirty years later, that marriage ended in divorce.

"Three years went by. One day this spring, I was talking with my brother in Italy over some money for a restaurant investment. I always planned to have my own restaurant again, since closing my last one on Richards Street in 1990. Towards the end of our conversation, my brother said, 'By the way, there's a letter here for you from New Jersey.' I asked about the return address. He said that there wasn't one. I told him to go ahead and open it. When he did, he told me that it was from someone named Geraldine. When I heard that, I thought to myself, 'That's impossible!' I asked why that letter went to Sicily. I didn't even know anyone from New Jersey. He said, 'It is very strange. The letter was addressed to our parents' house,' which was sold long ago. 'The present occupants didn't throw it away,' he said. 'They kept it for almost six months. Of course they didn't know you, but one day they met our sister-in-law, put the connection together, and gave it to her. She gave it to me and I've had it for the past four months or so.' I asked him to forward the letter to me. When the letter finally arrived in Vancouver, I read it, and tears came to my eyes. It was from my Geraldine, my Geraldine from so long ago. She wrote, 'Dearest Francesco, I want to tell you that you've been the first love of my life and that you always will be. I'm sorry for the tragic way we parted. I have not forgotten it to this day. If you are still around and well, I would like to hear from you.'"

Alongi immediately called directory assistance and tracked down Geraldine's number. "I waited until we weren't busy-this was when I was still at Il Giardino, locked myself in the office and called. What happened? A fax machine picked up with a piercing shriek! But among the beeping was the most beautiful voice with an English accent saying, 'Hold on please!' She shut the fax off and got back to the phone to see who it was. I said, 'Don't be alarmed. This is me, Francesco.' She said, 'Who?' I repeated: 'Francesco.' The next thing I heard was a banging sound. I stood there going, 'Hello? Hello?'" In shock, Geraldine had dropped the phone to the ground.

"She came back [on] crying. She asked if it was true, if it was really me. We talked of so many things. She asked if I was married and I told her that I had been divorced for three years. Her husband had died two years ago. I told her I had been very sick with heart problems, but was better now. She asked why I took so long to contact her, especially since she'd just made plans to retire back to England. I explained about my late acquirement of her letter and how, instead of writing back, I called so as to not waste any more time. She told me that she had thought of me every day. I said the same to her."

"We talked a lot. When I sensed that she had gotten quite upset emotionally, I suggested that we talk the next day when we'd be calmer and more able to focus. The next day, last May 29, she called late in the afternoon and said, 'That's it: I want to see you as soon as possible. I don't want to wait anymore.' I told her that I was in the middle of a project -my new restaurant- and asked if she'd like to visit in August, when I could spend more time with her. She said, 'No. It's too long. I'm coming for the long weekend.'"

"She arrived Friday, June 28, for the Canada Day weekend. Before that we were constantly talking on the phone. I refused any notion of sending pictures. I told her that we had to see each other in person the way we are now. So there I was in the airport waiting for her. My heart was pounding; I couldn't believe such a day had come. All of a sudden, this gentleman who knows me from the business sees me and comes over to start a conversation. He asked me why I was at the airport. I replied that it was too long of a story to tell then, but I did tell him that I was leaving Il Giardino and opening my own restaurant. He was all excited about this and wanted to talk further. That's when I got a tap on the shoulder> I turned around and there was Geraldine, whom I hadn't seen for 40 years. I was stunned. 'Geraldine?' I asked. She said, 'Yes Francesco.'

"I held her very gently. She was crying. Through her tears she said, 'Please, don't' talk.' We got her bags and went to my car. That's when I remembered that I had a beautiful bouquet of flowers for her that, in y excitement, I'd left in the trunk. I gave them to her, we drove off, and were silent for a while. Some time later she said how beautiful it was to see me again. I said the same back. We went to the Wall Centre, where I'd reserved a room and made sure that a bottle of champagne and a dozen roses were waiting. The room wasn't ready yet, so we went for lunch. Naturally, we had so much to discuss. Afterward, we went out hotel room, where I found out just how much we loved each other.

"On the Sunday of that weekend, she wanted to go to a Catholic Church. We went for service, and then afterward I suggested goi8ng back to the hotel for brunch. She said no, that she'd found another suitable place. It was a White Spot. I told her that I didn't think she'd like the place. She insisted that it would be fine.

"We were seated by a young waitress who seemed delighted by how in love we were. After lunch she said to me, 'I took you here because it is near the church. I want you to propose to me now.' Being so bewildered and stunned by my love for this beautiful lady, I replied, 'Geraldine, maybe you should think about this. I'm probably no the right man for you.' She said, 'Oh yes, you are. You've been right for 40 years. How that my parents are not here, I am able to do as my heart wishes.' I asked her to let me think.

"We went about the city showing her around, went out for dinner, and then back to the hotel. Of course I couldn't sleep, I was far too excited. Monday morning, just as dawn was breaking and having not slept at all, I woke her up and said, 'Geraldine, my darling, would you still like to marry me? I am proposing.' She said, 'Yes! Yes! Yes!' over and over. So on July 1, 2002, we became engaged.

"It is amazing how life goes on through the years and no matter how good or bad things are, it is for sure that one of the most beautiful things on earth is love, which never dies."

~ Francesco Alongi