A Little More History....

3 Years Later....

1995

My sister Rosie and I arrived in Cancun from Chicago because it was cheaper than flying from Detroit and I got to see my friend who had moved there.  After a night in Cancun, we got ourselves to Playa del Carmen the next day and got a room at the camping place since it was a little chilly to sleep in the hammocks.  She stayed in Playa and I went off to Tulum looking for Giovanni.  On the bus down, my stomach was doing back-flips, both scared and excited.  It had been 3 or so years since I had seen him, since I had to tell him I wasn't coming back to be with him.  And what if I did find him?  I was already with James, yet not married, but living together.  Why was I looking for him?  What was my intention?  To see him as a friend? To want him to sweep me off of my feet and ask me to be with him?  Would I have? 

  

I had a photo of him.  I didn’t know where to start, but Tulum was the last place that I knew of where he was.  I started asking around and someone told me to go to the boteleria.  It was a relative of his and they pointed me back to Playa.  When I arrived back there,  I went and left a message with her, with the name of the place where we were staying.    

A little later, I was walking down the beach with Rosie, and there he was.  We stopped, didn’t really know what to say.  He took us to see some of the murals he was working on.  We were both so emotional.  He said he would come back in the noche.  When he returned that night,  he talked to Rosie and I for a moment, then he and I stepped out to the beach, we looked at the stars for a brief moment, remembering that that was how we connected in the distance, he kissed me, telling me that maybe one day, “mañana es hoy” and he had a date with his wife, so needed to leave.

I respected that he had a date with his wife, something that made me respect him and love him more.  After reconnecting with him, I got his side of the story:

He was painting a mural in a hotel in Playa del Carmen.  While he was painting the mural, he was thinking about Jenny again.  He was trying to make himself stop, "why am I torturing myself?!"  Leaving to take a break, he was walking down the beach, still thinking about her.  He looked up and there she was, "Is that really her?", he thought.  He couldn't believe it.  They greeted and hugged.  There was another woman with her, that was her sister.  After showing her some of his work, he said he would come back in the night to visit again.

He ended up at the boteleria where his sister worked.  His wife was there with her.  She had said that a woman named Jenny had come by and left her information.  He said, "oh, I think I know who that is", not letting them know he had just seen her, although he was dying to tell his sister.

He made plans with his wife, and then went to see Jenny that night, perhaps for the last time.....?