In 1969 Mario Puzo’s The Godfather was published. The movie by the same name was released in 1972. Most would agree the Saga is a tremendous work and although most have not read the books, my grandmother Amelia did.  Page by page, word by word.

Only trouble was, she did not understand the ‘foul language’ written by Puzo.  So the story goes, my mother, my Uncle Mike and my Aunt Kay needed to be readily available to interpret and define these words. (The words in Italian, she knew, Ha!)

My grandmother was a wonderfully kind and innocent soul.  She has been dead since I was very young and I miss her still.  I would like to think I am somewhat like her, but I don’t think I will ever have her soul. That soul was a one-of-a-kind.

Sidebar:  when I was making my First Communion and Confession, I asked her about it and why we need to confess.  She told me nose-to-nose that when you sin, a piece of your soul is gone and you cannot get it back unless you tell the priest the truth, and in earnest, ask for forgiveness.  Yikers!  That is a lot for a 6 year old, don’t you think?

Back to the point, I am reading the trilogy, Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James.  I should read it in a meat locker set at 32 degrees, in shorts and a t-shirt, if you get my drift….  I need some Mario Puzo-type interpretation…. I need my Zumba friends to translate this for me.  As I said to Joanna, “you-me and a bottle of Jack…and a dictionary of some sorts”.

Many of my friends, LAX and AAU parents and co-workers are reading these books.  It reminds me of the old Anne Rice Vampire series.  I sat on the commuter train back and forth from Peekskill to Manhattan every day with Bruce Brooks and rwe ead those books, along with her little known, Sleeping Beauty series. Bruce and I would be elbow to elbow reading like crazy and then taking turns standing between the cars to feel that cool air.  Ah, the good old days.

So if you read these, be prepared and get a good friend or two ready, that is, if you need a little help.  Mario would have understood!