went to Turnberry Isle, a beautiful resort in Aventura, Florida, and to Montreal, where we enjoyed the romance of the old city. We enjoyed traveling to places as close as New York and as far away as Europe and Brazil. Bruna loved these mystery trips so much that we did something similar with Sean when he was old enough to understand that we were going someplace fun. When we visited Disney World over Valentineâs Day in 2004, we concealed our destination from Sean until he saw the huge Disney arch over the parkâs entranceway. His eyes lit up. Iâm not sure who enjoyed it moreâSean, Bruna, or me!
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AS WAS OUR custom, during the late spring of 2004, I often took Brunaâs parents and my dad, along with Sean, out on my boat to go fishing. Weâd have a ball. Weâd catch the fish, clean them, and then bring them home to Silvana to cook for dinner at their condo, or back to our house, where Iâd prepare one of my special seafood dishes.
The night before Bruna and Sean left for Brazil that last time, we attended the carnival sponsored by St. Leoâs Church. Looking back now, it was another of those occasions when I should have seen the signals. Besides enjoying the rich food and the kidsâ rides, Bruna seemed especially happy to see her friends. âOh, thatâs so good,â she said later that night. âI got to say good-bye to everybody.â
I assumed that she was simply referring to the end-of-the-schoolyear good-byes. Or, possibly, she meant that she was saying good-bye because she wouldnât see her friends for a few weeks while she was visiting Brazil. I never dreamed that she was saying good-bye to them permanently.
We had a swing set delivered the morning of Bruna and Seanâs departure, and since their flight was later in the evening, I spent most of the day outside in the yard putting it together. Sean had a plastic shovel and helped me dig the holes for the posts.
Meanwhile, my dad and mom took Bruna and her parents to lunch at the Turning Point Restaurant in Little Silver. Now that I think about it, the restaurantâs name seems pretty prophetic.
My dad later recalled that at lunch that day, Bruna brought up a rather unusual story involving a close friend from college, a Brazilian woman who had married an American citizen and subsequently obtained her U.S. citizenship. The couple was splitting up, but rather than divorce her husband, the woman merely remained separated. She then returned to Brazil and married a doctor in her home country, without ever being divorced in the United States. It was strange fodder for lunchtime conversation, especially on the day Bruna and her parents were flying off to Brazil with Sean. But it was just another story mixed in with the usual banter, and none of us gave it much thought.
When the family members returned from their lunch, they found Sean and me outside enjoying his new swing set. All too soon, it was time to get ready to go to the airport. Sean and I went inside and I bounded up the stairs to the master bedroom, where Bruna and her mother had laid open on the bed four large suitcases. I must have surprised them, because the moment they saw me they both stopped packing in mid-movement and the expressions on their faces were those of two kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Although I didnât ask, almost immediately Bruna blurted out an explanation of why she was taking so many clothes. âOh, we have to pack extra suitcases because we will be attending a wedding in the mountains so we will need warm clothes as well as our summer things,â she said.
âOkay, if thatâs what you needâ; it sounded logical to me.
Bruna changed into a Jennifer Lopezâstyle outfit, a tight-fitting, stretchy, comfortable sort of casual elegant ensemble. Her mom dressed comfortably as well, in khaki pants and a buttoned blouse, and a pullover in case she got cold on the plane. Raimundo, as
Â
Â
AS WAS OUR custom, during the late spring of 2004, I often took Brunaâs parents and my dad, along with Sean, out on my boat to go fishing. Weâd have a ball. Weâd catch the fish, clean them, and then bring them home to Silvana to cook for dinner at their condo, or back to our house, where Iâd prepare one of my special seafood dishes.
The night before Bruna and Sean left for Brazil that last time, we attended the carnival sponsored by St. Leoâs Church. Looking back now, it was another of those occasions when I should have seen the signals. Besides enjoying the rich food and the kidsâ rides, Bruna seemed especially happy to see her friends. âOh, thatâs so good,â she said later that night. âI got to say good-bye to everybody.â
I assumed that she was simply referring to the end-of-the-schoolyear good-byes. Or, possibly, she meant that she was saying good-bye because she wouldnât see her friends for a few weeks while she was visiting Brazil. I never dreamed that she was saying good-bye to them permanently.
We had a swing set delivered the morning of Bruna and Seanâs departure, and since their flight was later in the evening, I spent most of the day outside in the yard putting it together. Sean had a plastic shovel and helped me dig the holes for the posts.
Meanwhile, my dad and mom took Bruna and her parents to lunch at the Turning Point Restaurant in Little Silver. Now that I think about it, the restaurantâs name seems pretty prophetic.
My dad later recalled that at lunch that day, Bruna brought up a rather unusual story involving a close friend from college, a Brazilian woman who had married an American citizen and subsequently obtained her U.S. citizenship. The couple was splitting up, but rather than divorce her husband, the woman merely remained separated. She then returned to Brazil and married a doctor in her home country, without ever being divorced in the United States. It was strange fodder for lunchtime conversation, especially on the day Bruna and her parents were flying off to Brazil with Sean. But it was just another story mixed in with the usual banter, and none of us gave it much thought.
When the family members returned from their lunch, they found Sean and me outside enjoying his new swing set. All too soon, it was time to get ready to go to the airport. Sean and I went inside and I bounded up the stairs to the master bedroom, where Bruna and her mother had laid open on the bed four large suitcases. I must have surprised them, because the moment they saw me they both stopped packing in mid-movement and the expressions on their faces were those of two kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Although I didnât ask, almost immediately Bruna blurted out an explanation of why she was taking so many clothes. âOh, we have to pack extra suitcases because we will be attending a wedding in the mountains so we will need warm clothes as well as our summer things,â she said.
âOkay, if thatâs what you needâ; it sounded logical to me.
Bruna changed into a Jennifer Lopezâstyle outfit, a tight-fitting, stretchy, comfortable sort of casual elegant ensemble. Her mom dressed comfortably as well, in khaki pants and a buttoned blouse, and a pullover in case she got cold on the plane. Raimundo, as
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