This is the story of how I met Aldo 30 years ago, It happened roughly during the month of May 1984: I had left for L.A. with my child Jades father in August of 1982 only to return with him to Montreal late April 1983. I was 4 months pregnant. Nobody knew, not even my mother. Obviously everyone became aware of it eventually as I started to show and so the story goes. As for Aldo, I did not know too much about his career. I remember everybody buzzing about him when I was at Vanier college. Everyone was sitting around in the cafeteria in 1981 and going on about how a Montreal boy made it so big in the USA and was actually a graduate of Pie IX High School who most of them had attended. I just remember having this strange irate feeling like How come I dont know this guy?? The strange thing about Aldo is that even though he was older and had he met me when he was a teenager, he would have though I was just some annoying hyper little kid. We lived about 5 kilometres apart in RDP, we were baptized at the same church, Notre Dame de la Défense in Little Italy. We were born in the same hospital, Sainte Justine. We went to the same high schools, Lacordaire High and Pie IX. And while Aldo was living at his Penthouse at La Cité, I was working on the VIP15th floor of the Park Hotel, which is right next to La Cité, all the while never crossing paths. This was three years after our initial meeting. So lets go back a few years. My son was about 8 months old and my parents were babysitting him. My cousins, Nadia and Sylvana Simonetto who lived next door to my parents decided it was time for me to go on a night out!! We were walking on Ste-Catherine street when Nadia shouted out, Theres Aldo Nova!. There was Aldo across the street with some other guy. I knew of him but not too much because I had spent the last year in L.A. and was not aware of his success. But apparently he was at the height of his stardom. I told her I was in no way crossing the street to go ask for an autograph!!! And not a minute later Aldo crossed the street, walked right up to me, and with no hesitation whatsoever asked me for my phone number!?!. Now that is what you call ballsy!! I was beet red. I think I stuttered a bit. I had no paper, so he tore out half of a parking stub he had from la Cité where he lived, gave me his phone number and then proceeded to ask for and write down mine. My cousin shoved me a little to get me to give out my number so I blurted out a number. Happy with himself he left, flashing his beautiful smile and said, Talk to you soon. After he left Nadia said, Why did you do that for???. What? I said Do you really think this guy is going to call me, he probably has about thirty phone numbers in his pocket right now..pffff. I had just given him my mothers phone number. My mom is a real hard ass and if he did phone, which he wouldnt, she would most probably chew his ear off. Well, the next Sunday (you see we have supper at my parents every Sunday, a tradition we still hold today even if my father is no longer around, bless his soul, and Aldo comes every single week), the phone rang. I was sitting in the backyard with my cousins taking in a bit of sun, with Jade (my son) crawling around in the grass, when my mother called, Paola, il telefono per te! ma qui ti chiama qui miseria??? out loud with the phone next to her mouth. Well it was Aldo!!! I was stunned. I did not know what to say. But I did tell him I had an eight month old son and was in a relationship and that he had never given me the chance to say anything that evening….That didnt stop him from inviting him for a coffee. I accepted. We became friends…for a whole year, just friends. We went for walks, he even pushed Jades stroller for me. We walked on Mont Royal. Walked around parks, long walks, had long talks about life, just about anything. He once even helped me change Jades diapers at the flat that he was sharing with his roommate. He had been a gentleman the whole time. Never even tried to kiss me. What I didnt know was that he had strong feelings for me and I probably had some too but if I did I did not acknowledge them because I was in a brand new relationship and I thought I was with the man I would spend the rest of my life with. Life goes on and Aldo moved back to the States. He went back to New York for a while. When he moved back to Montreal I did not even know about it. That is when he lived at La Cité and I worked at Park Hotel. I think he thought it was best to stay away. He met his ex wife and they had three children….. I will tell you the rest of the story next week….Its getting late. But for the curious ones, I was looking through a box (the one in the solarium again, yes..I know…the infamous box with all the photos) and I found the ripped up stub Aldo gave me with his phone # on it) Dont try to phone the # because its no longer his phone number. I penciled in the Nova to remember that it was Aldo Nova and then I had use eye liner to write down his address (on the same paper, once I did accept to meet him for coffee at Place du Parc). I luse to live on St-Denis Street. And a photo of me right around the time I met Aldo in May 1984. Good night for now. Ill write more next week :)
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 03:10:59 +0000
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