Piñata Belly And Other Tales of Later Love

Piñata Belly And Other Tales of Later Love is a collection of five stories in the I'm Here Series, stories of later love. I'm Here is a fast-moving tale about the slow-down of aging and the freedom of choosing where to sleep and with whom. After 25,000 Masses: A 72-year old priest decides to leave more than his parish when he retires. A woman who admired him as her high school chaplain opens him to loving one person after a lifetime of loving everyone. Pinata Belly has a retired black high school teacher and an ex-pat Southern Belle running a B/B in the Guatemala Highlands. The two never-marrieds are a parable of our times as Harry and Cobi, diversity-woke, racially open, represent the browning of America or conversely, America going off-white. Vito's Tale, is one immigrant's version of the American Dream that saw this country as a means to make enough money to return to the 'real world' of his motherland while pushing one of his sons into upward mobility before pursuing late love in 'the old country.' Cagalupo Redux: Nick Finazzo, a roving freelance writer, spots Carol walking a Lake Michigan beach a long way and a lifetime from their early years in Detroit's Eastside-their adolescent attraction, friends in common and now disparate life styles-her Lake Michigan mansion, his live-in van. Can they start over?