Casino Royale
Reale

It's been a while.

Wow, almost 10 years. We left off with you doing well, almost at the top of your form... actually, come to think of it, you were at the top of your form. Back then in 1997, you were like a mirror, perfectly reflecting what was happening to you, what you liked, what you felt, and what you thought.

Now, I don't know... at first glance, I say that seeing and hearing you again is wonderful. We share so many memories and so many beautiful days, evenings, hours, car rides, and everything else. Of course, after nine years, a lot of water has passed under the bridge. We've grown. We've lost and found each other, communicated, seen, and felt a sea of emotions. And we might have understood better who we were and what we wanted and where we would have liked to go.

Today, I find you and (re)hear you. Indubitably, I find you well, matured. Don't you think that maturation is an extremely interesting process ???!?! You know, in my opinion, it is.... I feel you enriched, new, confident, but these are not just three words placed there randomly. I mean that today you continue to represent what you represented ten years ago, but I seriously think you do it in a more natural way. Better.

Today you have returned to speak as you did long ago and even before that. You like to be heard, and those who listen to you, like me, understand that you are happy and convinced. You are sure of having fun and pleasing yourself, doing "things" that only you know how to do and already knew how to do uniquely. Today you don't need to look so much into the neighbor's garden. Not that you were copying before, absolutely not. Your uniqueness, which you maintain today while improving it, has always been that of taking cues from others, but you make them yours, develop them, transform them and in doing so, you don't even have the faintest idea of how many people have taken inspiration from you, how many people you have inspired and influenced.

Then you know, today that you're older, you're also more interesting. You find yourself back in the game after a long silence, doing with passion and great style what you did before. But it all comes down to focusing and understanding how you did it before and how you do it today. Today you don't have "performance anxiety," you don't care! You demonstrate with facts what you're made of. It's like meeting up after ten years, like with former comrades or former high school classmates. Everyone knew very well what you were and how you were back then, but today you can be fascinated to see, hear, and live this "new" life, this "new" awareness.

Also, in hindsight, you've always been ahead of the game... you've always shown with great ability how you knew how to do things.... today it's almost exciting to hear you. Maybe you're not ahead of where you were years ago... but today you are undoubtedly different, you are powerful, thrilling, elegant. It's like looking in the mirror when wearing a nice suit and saying to yourself how damn good you look.

I also noticed that today there's clearly a renewed desire in you to talk, to be heard, and above all to be together. With your people... and it's noticeable, love has been reborn, the desire to be together and to be well together.

...what can I say... I think I've told you everything. How I feel about your return.

Just one last thing, yet another compliment... maybe even now you prove to be right and to be justified. I was thinking of how to sum up my perception of you.... one word comes to mind.

You are REAL!