All the Way to Heaven

Chapter 26

"You may not know this, Ani, but it is common knowledge that there has been an increase in crimes committed in Lucca by the youth in the last several years." He still spoke reluctantly, but with an intensity that made me want to pay attention. "Especially the older secondary students. They spend time in groups in the piazzas or even in the train station. They get on the trains and go to Florence or Sienna with no one ever knowing where they are, and find even more trouble in those bigger cities, especially with drugs. Then they bring that trouble back to Lucca." He straightened and crossed his arms. He looked cold. The fire was definitely heating things up, but not enough to ward off the nip of the breeze around us. I hunkered down a little more in the sweater I wore.

"I have much compassion for these young people who are making decisions now that will affect their lives forever. But I do not see how things will change for the better for them if we only punish trouble. Instead, we must look for ways to prevent it before it happens." He stared into the fire, the light making his features shift and bend. I couldn't look away.

"I came to Lucca on a study abroad program, and one of the requirements was to participate in a social integration program or activity. I tried my hand at many things when I first arrived, but finally chose this after-school program. We work with students to teach them skills like cooking, child care, bee-keeping, construction, and farming, and we help them to find part time jobs. They make a little money without buying and selling drugs or pickpocketing."

"He did not choose the program," Madalina scoffed gently. "It is his own."

"Psht. It is not my program. It is a city program. I only helped to start it because I felt in my heart it was what I needed to do." He looked around the small group, his eyes holding mine for only a few moments, but I felt the change in his demeanor. The conversation had awakened his passion, and I was rather transfixed.

"In every person there is a desire that is unique to each of us." He raised both hands and cupped them together like he was holding something precious. "Our passion in this life. There is a voice inside us that calls to us to act." He tapped his chest, and then pointed toward the sky. "I believe each one of us is born with it, a little piece of heaven inside our hearts, and we have been given a whole lifetime to act, to share our piece of heaven with those around us."

He was silent for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "I do not think it is the job we do, or the activities we participate in, but the way we do those things. How we see other people, not just with our eyes, but with our hearts. Like you, Isa, the way you see Madalina every day, and you always greet her and praise her and tell her she is a good person, not just a good pastry chef. It is how you saw our Ani last week, and you did not walk by, because you saw her with your heart." I didn't miss the collective "our" he'd used when talking about me. I kind of liked belonging to these people.

"And you, Cosimo." He turned and looked directly at the man beside me. "To open your clinic to Ani. I am certain you already had many patients who needed you. Yet you saw Ani's need and you did not turn her away." It was a little weird being talked about like I wasn't there, but everything Paulo was saying was spot on. "Saint Catherine of Siena once said, 'All the way to heaven is heaven.' It is not just about the happy ending, but making every step along the way matter. It is a good way to live a life, do you think?"

The silence that followed was palpable. I didn't know Paulo had so many words in him, and I certainly hadn't expected that kind of expostulation. It was as though the spigot had been cranked open and what came out of him was refreshing and pure and unabashed.

"Cin cin." Isa stood up and draped her blanket around Paulo's shoulders. He nodded his appreciation and drew the ends together in front of his chest. Then she kissed his cheek, a solemn blessing, returned to her husband, and curled her petite frame into his lap. Gerardo enfolded her in the warmth of his arms inside his blanket.