Paris Can Wait. First Pristina!

Remembering the Passion and Promises from one of the Last True Cowboys!

Welcome Friends! Oh, How I’ve Missed You!

I know! I know it’s been over six weeks since you last heard from me and that you are expecting to hear all about my three-week whirlwind tour of Europe with Ari! However, our tour of London, Paris, Lucerne, Innsbruck, Tuscany, Venice, Florence, and Rome ended with a week in Pristina, Kosovo, and our experience there overshadowed everything else. So after a number of failed attempts at writing about anything else (thus the delay), I surrendered to writing what was in my heart and weighing heavy on my mind and I am relieved to finally have something for you. Enjoy!

Feeling a bit like it was now or never…

We were brought to Pristina by my desire to reunite Ari with his father and three sisters for the first time in nearly seven years. Given our troubled, somewhat volatile past and our complicated situation, I had no idea what to expect, but I knew it was important that we go now.

There were several risks involved, risks you might not even believe if I told you, but the benefits I sought, outweighed any danger or any possible detriment. Also, if you have ever tasted Burek, you’d know there are worse things than being held captive in a country whose food I consider to be both the most delicious in the world and also the cheapest in Europe!

I wanted Ari to be reunited with his dad and his three sisters before he became a rebellious and possibly resentful teenager! Also, I find that travel to the Balkans is getting more and more dangerous, especially near the Kosovo and Serbian border and Russia has always objected to Kosovo’s 2008 claim of independence from Serbia after the fall of communism and the break up of Yugoslavia.

With so many natural disasters occurring more frequently, the threat of another global pandemic, or another world war, and with all that is happening in Ukraine, I was inspired to take my son to see as many European treasures as I could. Who knows if we will ever have the time, money or ability again? I think Ari and I both agree that the trip was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and that his father was the greatest treasure of all!

Funny Story…

The Man Who Fell to Earth

In October of 2012, I had been watching the Late Show with David Letterman when a guest of his caught my attention and gave me, for the first time in my life, a picture of a man I’d like to find. He was interviewing Felix Baumgartner, an Austrian skydiver, daredevil, and all-around badass, who had just broken a world record for skydiving, jumping from outer space, reaching a speed of 833.9 mph, and breaking the sound barrier!

I just remember thinking ‘That’s exactly what I’m looking for in a man, mentally, physically, and spiritually!” Someone fearless, crazy, gorgeous and European! I realized at that moment, that I had met somebody like that…The man from Kosovo!

Until that point, I didn’t know what I wanted, and I tried hard to make relationships work that didn’t suit me because that’s what I thought marriage was. Like walking around in a pair of shoes two sizes too small, just happy to have shoes on at all, despite the blood and blisters.

Speaking of shoes, I remember school shopping with my dad at Beachwood Mall when I was in high school and dragging him to every shoe store in search of blue leopard print high-tops. When he’d reached the end of his patience, he asked exhaustedly, “Can you please try and remember where you saw these shoes you’re looking for?”

When I told him I had never seen them, he got so frustrated and asked, “Then how do you know they exist?”

I said, “Because they should exist!”

After that, I decided to take things into my own hands, altering clothing, cutting off sleeves, ripping black stockings, and wearing them on my arms or drawing on my clothes. I learned that if I couldn’t find what I wanted, I had to invent it or create it myself. This worked for just about everything in my life, especially my restaurant, but despite my best efforts, I have been unable to find or alter any man to suit my taste, needs, and wants!

But…that all changed in October of 2012, and for a very brief time, I did have the man of my dreams, and after visiting him for the first time in seven years, he is all I can think about. You guys know me well enough by now to know, if I cannot think about anything else, I cannot write about anything else!

So at the risk of pissing off a lot of people who care about me, I am going to share some of our story, and what a story it is my friends! Ours is a great love story. Tragic and beautiful. Desperate and dangerous, even deadly a time or two. We were brought together by liquor, war, and illegal immigration, separated by jealousy, stubbornness and rage, yet we’re forever bound by a loving son. Now countries apart, both are searching for a way back into each other’s weary hearts, though time is not on our side. Perhaps love will find a way.

The following contains sensitive (scandalous!) material and deeply private thoughts. Understandably, I must limit viewing to Paid Subscribers only. Thank you for understanding.