Open mind sets welcome creativity inside.

Closed minds are on a trap like the Staten Island Expressway on any give day.

A new language, new religion, a song in two different languages crosses boundaries not barricaded in prejudices.

We are never too old to learn something new, open a book be embraced by cultures. Discover something, someone different from ourselves.

My Junior High crush had me fall in love with Italy. Napoledons with big Roman noses.

Thirty-five years later I still think of Frankie. Whenever Italian is spoken, tomato sauce fragrances Sunday morning air, gentle kisses on my cheek in hellos, olive skin dark and smooth with almond shaped eyes.

This book opened me and never collected dust on life’s shelf.