Mario’s Italian Market Remains!

In response to “When Everything Falls Apart, What Remains?” posting, I received a precious email message from a Florida writer-friend.

Thank you, Paul, for igniting my heart by sharing your powerful writing of your poignant experience.

(Soft edits only!)

Welcome to the Yellow Brick Road, and please come again….

Dear Debra,

I stared at the title of your recent blog for moments before I opened and read the email.

The title described exactly, in a few short words, what I’ve been feeling for weeks. Seems that we’ve experienced a string of negative events these past few months that have made July/August 2020 among the most unforgettable in recent memory.

I’ve tried to remain positive, yet have found this challenging.

Although not the root cause, COVID-induced separation is a likely contributor to a nagging sense of disconnect.

I wonder sometimes if we’ve gotten too good at “social distancing.” We stay at home; work from home in separate rooms; spend all day in different mindsets. We frown under our mask if someone is shopping in the wrong direction in the supermarket aisle. We are cautioned to avoid people who are sick, when we used to be encouraged to do the opposite.

E.M. Forster begins his novel “Howard’s End” with the words “only connect.”

A final thought on human interaction and connectedness: One of our favorite activities since moving to Southwest Florida is shopping at Mario’s Italian Market in Fort Myers.




Having grown up in Brooklyn with parents who were raised in Little Italy, I feel qualified to comment on the salumeria experience in America.

The magic of Mario’s is that everyone there—regardless of ethnicity or nationality—is for that moment bound together by a familiarity and fondness for this food. We make sure that number 75 doesn’t answer before we hold up our ticket number 76. We ask the woman who ordered the long-hot peppers if they’re really hot; she replies with a smile and left-right wag of her hand. The counter man offers a sample slice of Calabrian salami—an inducement to order a half-pound instead of a quarter. We discuss the merits of gorgonzola versus blue cheese with a stranger.

Perhaps this is what will remain when everything falls apart.

Perhaps, when everything falls apart, what remains is everything that is loved….

You are loved, Paul!