my beloved birthplace, Philadelphia
When I first laid eyes on Rita de Cassia Pierotti it was far from Philly and a lot warmer.
Sitting there so voluptuously across from me one glorious afternoon in magical Deerfield Beach, she instantly turned my neighborhood Duffy’s bar into a swanky Parisian nightclub.
I don’t know if she was wearing silk stockings that fateful day, but she sure brought out that melodious muse, Cole Porter, in me.
And suddenly turning into a graceful Fred Astaire, I’d glide over to her, irresistibly attracted by her Brazilian charm topped off by her ravishingly beautiful blonde hair.
I couldn’t stop my heart pounding and that Astaire in my mind started singing:
I love the looks of you, the lure of you,
I’d love to make a tour of you.
Yes, I was forever smitten, captured by Rita’s effervescent beauty and when she smiled, I was ready, oh so ready, to propose, not just to her, but to all of her.
The eyes, the arms and that beautiful mouth of you.
The east, west, north and south of you.
And singing louder so all heaven could hear . . .
I’d love to gain complete control of you.
Handle even the heart and soul of you.
Love at least a small percent of me do,
Cause I love you.
And soon thereafter, we were rapidly, happily married, then off on many honeymoons, one to where I was born not far from those expensive Monopolistic blue properties, Boardwalk and Park Place, in romantic enchantic Atlantic City.
There we visited, thanks to a late breaking ancestry test, my newly discovered daughter Robbin, whose mom was a long-ago sweetheart at Atlantic City High.
Until then, I never knew what was so discretely, secretly, yet so beautifully born out of a much earlier love song Cole didn’t write, but for which I put on Cole’s cap and wrote my own lyrics.
Finally, I see the looks of her, the sweet, cotton candy-ish culture in her,
Rita and I treasure her so, and on a grand casino tour we go . . .
Yes, that’s what happens down on the old New Jersey shore, where life is ever peaches and cream. And where you’re not only occasionally dealt a blissful blackjack, but you can hit the ancestry jackpot.
Besides a love blogger, Tom Madden is an author of countless published articles and five books, including his latest, WORDSHINE MAN, available now on Amazon.
He is the founder and CEO of TransMedia Group, an award-winning public relations firm serving clients worldwide since 1981.
