Through Leonardo’s eyes

painting done by Dmitry Spiros (from Pinterest)

Leonardo the gondolier,  was finishing up his day. There were no more passengers for today. He was lost in his thoughts as he rowed along, taking his time. He loved this city and his job, he couldn’t imagine doing anything different. His Dad had been a gondolier as was his Grandfather. It was a tradition that Lance was honored to uphold. He could still remember the excitement he had when his Dad presented him with his first gondola.

He thought about all the people who had taken rides in his gondola over the years. The young starry eyed lovers with dreams of adventure in their hearts and the sweet, older couples with so many stories hidden in heir eyes. He loved hearing what the dreams were of the young lovers, and hearing the  precious memories of days gone by from the older couples. He heard their dreams too, for one is never too old to dream.

There were certain stories that stood out to him and certain couples that he just seemed to never forget. Ones that left a mark on his heart. There was one couple specifically that had come to his mind just now. A couple from quite a few years ago.

The lady’s name was Isabelle. She was talking with her husband about their dancing days and as he clasped her hand, you could see the adoration in his eyes.

Leonardo was used to hearing words of love spoken from couples but with this couple he could really feel the deep sincerity in their words. They weren’t just caught up in the romanticism of being in a gondola in the floating city of Venice. He could see the true love that glowed around them as they sat in silence with their hands clasped together and Isabelle resting her head on her dear one’s shoulder.

Oh yes, what a lovely couple they were and he couldn’t forget the tender moment that he had seen pass between them.

They had stepped onto the gondola and he had welcomed them as they sat down. Then the husband had reached into a bag he had and pulled out some beautiful red flowers to give to Isabelle.

Isabelle had gasped in surprise and Leonardo remembers her being so pleased and wondering how her husband had found poppies for her! He remembered the husband’s secretive smile as he told her that it was a secret and that he was so very happy to have been able to find them for his beautiful one.

Leonardo had turned away to give them some privacy and to start rowing. He rowed with a smile on his face and a feeling that he had just witnessed a very special moment. That this was more than only  a husband surprising his wife with flowers. He felt that the poppies held a special story within them. He was sure about it when he briefly turned his head to sneak a glance their way and he saw Isabelle’s husband wiping some tears from her eyes.