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‘How come you’ve had so many jobs?’
‘Long story,’ she sighed. ‘When my son was one year, I left my husband and this town and decided to travel. Sounds crazy, but my marriage was like prison and I wanted to be free. I was single mother. I had very little money. Wherever we went I had to take whatever job I can. Sometimes cleaner, sometimes work in bar or salon or restaurant or at home, talking to dirty men on the phone…’
‘Sounds like you did what you had to survive.’
‘Sì. It was not easy. But I was lucky. Most places we lived had good community. Women who were happy to give support. That is why I try to help good people, because without those women who take care of my son when I had to work, I would not have survived.’
That explained why Geli was always so selfless. Always looking out for others. Her mum, me, Holly.
I was intrigued to hear about her husband. She’d mentioned him briefly in the car on our way back from Florence and I’d been wondering about him ever since.
‘Didn’t your husband give you any support?’
‘Ha!’ she laughed. ‘He would not speak to me. He think I humiliated him. I cannot blame him completely. Our marriage: it was fake. I did not love him. I knew it was wrong.’
‘In what way?’
‘Ever since I was young, I knew I was different. Felt like I did not belong. I had not many friends. I think there was something wrong with me. It was lonely. When I was nineteen, all my friends start to get married and have babies. For woman here, the goal is to have family. In this town there is not much to do, so they start early. I begin to feel more alone. I think my life would be better if I did the same as them. So I said yes to the first man who ask me out. It did not feel right. I did not really like him and I definitely did not enjoy the sex. But…’ She shrugged her shoulders. ‘And then I become pregnant, so we had to marry quickly. I was very unhappy.’
‘What changed? What gave you the courage to leave?’
‘A tourist.’
‘Huh?’
‘One day I was alone inFirenze. An English woman, she ask me for directions. We started talking. She was single mother. Her daughter had gone to university and now her life felt empty, so she decide to do something for herself. To travel the world. I said she was an inspiration. We went for coffee and she told me about her experiences. We talked for many hours. I thought she was amazing. In every way…’ Her voice trailed off and a big grin spread across her face.
‘You mean romantically too?’
‘Everything. Spiritually. Intellectually. Sexually. We had only known each other for hours, but I feel like she understood me better than people I know my whole life. She was strong woman. Woman with goals and dreams. I did not meet many people like that in this town. But she had waited until her daughter was eighteen to live her life. After speaking to her, I was inspired. I did not want to wait. I could not wait seventeen more years. I could not imagine stay with my husband for that long. I wanted to live now. So two weeks later, I left him.’
‘Wow! That must have been scary?’
‘Not really. I was more scared of how my life would be if I stay.’
I understood what she meant. After Albert died and I realised my life was a mess, I knew I had to take the leap and leave my fifteen-year relationship with Rich too.
‘And what happened to the woman?’
Geli smiled slyly. ‘We stay in touch…’
I read between the lines…
‘That must have been a big change on so many levels, I mean, leaving your husband, leaving your home and also discovering your sexuality.’
‘Sì, in some ways, but I do not really give much thought to these things. I just know that I could not stay in this town. It was too closed. I could not be free. In this town people are used to follow tradition. They think they must be like everyone else. But that is too rigid for me. I do not like labels. Especially for relationships. It is not about liking man or woman. It is the person. Their spirit.Thatis what I am attracted to. I want to be free to fall in love with anyone. To be open to all experiences. Labels and boxes are for products, not people.’
So true. People should be who they wanted to be and love whoever they pleased. And that was definitely something that would be difficult to do here. It was a very traditional town.
‘You thought that tourist woman was an inspiration—well, you are too Geli. Having the courage to get up and start a new life isn’t easy. And making friends in different places and finding jobs to make ends meet must have been tough too. I’ve definitely found it hard and I have Lorenzo’s support.’
‘Was not easy. But was worth it. I am proud of my son, Ravi.’ Interesting name. I was sure that meant something likesunand was an Indian rather than Italian name. That would be just like Geli, though. Not wanting to follow convention. ‘He is one of the most educated men I know. Not because he went to fancy school. Sometimes I had to teach him at home myself. He is smart because of his experiences. Travelling, meeting many different people, seeing many cultures. That help to make him the man he is. That is why I do the lessons in this way. Learning is not always about textbooks and rules. It is experiencing life that teaches us the best lessons.’
That was a good point. I think in many ways I’ve always believed that most problems could be solved with hard work and a good plan. Of course, I’d known that moving to Italy would be a challenge, but I’d just assumed that if I did all the right things and ticked off tasks on my list and approached life in a structured way, everything would fall into place. But now I was seeing that wasn’t always true. Especially when it came to studying Italian.
By being open to trying a different approach and letting go of my need for everything to be so controlled, I was much better off. I’d learnt more from Geli’s lessons than I would from just using my textbooks. She reminded me of Mr Miyagi inThe Karate Kid. Just like Daniel, who worried at the beginning that he wasn’t being taught any karate skills, the more I studied with Geli, the more I realised that not only was she helping to improve my Italian, but she was also giving me deeper life lessons too.
‘You’ve obviously experienced a lot. With your travelling and all those different jobs. You’re clearly a woman of many talents…’ We both burst out laughing as we realised how that sounded. ‘I didn’t mean…’
