Chapter 88

Chapter 88

When he held me very tightly in his arms, I felt Dad was holding me. Their height and physique weren’t much different, and the way he hugged me was like he never wanted to let me go. That was how Dad used to hold me. We cried in each other’s arms, letting out our pent-up emotions quietly. After what seemed like hours, but in truth, only mere minutes, I took a step back and gazed up at him. He doesn’t look a day older than his 73 years old; in fact, he doesn’t look any older than all the pictures that I saw of him. Yeah, I did sneak into my father’s study when I was younger just to see the family photo that he kept hidden at the bottom drawer. It is a beautiful family portrait of Dad, Nonno and Nonna, together with Uncle Antonio and their sister, Aunt Elena.

“Nonno,” I whispered as I cupped his face. “It’s really you.”