Spreading My Wings

My husband bought me a coat for a wedding present. I thought it was so romantic that he wanted to keep me warm. I felt like Anna Karenina wrapped up in the thick fox shawl collar and flirty fur cuffs. When I pulled it around me, I felt enveloped in my handsome husbands embrace.

After our divorce, I shed that coat as a snake sheds its skin. I replaced it with a parka thats far better suited for my new life that varies each week between downtown Manhattan mom and Vermont family innkeeper. For three slushy winters, I happily zipped up my practical parka...

but now, Im spreading my wings.

Coats are so banal. declared my downstairs SoHo neighbor, Egizio. We are volcanos. We wear capes.

And with that he swooshed his cape, put his five pound poodle clad with a ruby necklaces in one arm, mine in the other, and we swept into Chanel.

I have lived on the same street as Chanel for three years and never crossed its threshold. I am a Vermonter from childhood and a songwriter by profession. I value my freedom and time far more than any designer pocketbook, but Egizio loves beauty and fashion. Egizio IS fashion.

From Venetian aristocracy and raised with private tutors in Egypt, Egizio has been a SoHo artiste and impresario for the past 40 years. Gaultier, Pucci, Moschino and Versace have sent him their clothes for years. Egizio has been my steady companion since my divorce. As a friend, he has generously redecorated the Wilburton Inn, our family inn in Manchester, Vermont.

Now that Im finally ready to date, Egizios redecorating me.

He helped me pick the perfect glasses and even bought the matching pair. He told me I looked like a salami in my favorite Diane Von Furstenberg wrap dress. He insisted I buy this instead:

He knew I needed a bodysuit from Wolford and a piece from Issey Miyake. He even picked the perfect T shirt bra.

Egizio and I waltzed into Burberry where he spotted a cape. I had no idea my life lacked a cape, but I never doubt Egizio. As soon as I threaded my arms through the sleeves, I loved the playfulness of the buttons and the quality of the wool. Most of all I loved how it symbolized that I am spreading my wings.

My son says I look like Paddington Bear meets Count Dracula, but I adore my cape. It is the most expensive thing Ive ever bought second only to my Apple computers and post divorce house, but I dont regret it at all.

When I got divorced I wrote a blog called How to Know When Your Marriage Is Really Over. It took a leap of faith to leave the devil I knew with no idea what lay before me.

Today is the 4th anniversary since I descended the inferno of NYC City Hall and began the process of divorce. Today I write this sipping coffee at the Plaza Hotel (Starbucks simply wont do now that I have a cape) as I await Egizio and our double header of buying cashmere for me and sinks for the inn.

Who knows what heights I will soar in my cape or who I will take under my wing? I am a social butterfly now, flitting from flower to flower in the on line dating dance.

In my cape, I have no fear of flying. I relish the adventure every day and sharing it with family and friends.

Best of all, I have Egizio beside me. He is the wind beneath my wings. He is the reason that I now soar. Pity I cant marry him as he has been the true love story in my post divorce adventure. He has shared every step of the parallel transformation of the Wilburton Inn and me. Thanks to Egizio, the inn and I have both been refreshed.

Im writing songs again once more. They are pouring out of me in a joyful exuberance that I havent felt since I was 22 and a troubadour by the fountains of Europe. My songs are like lava, gushing forth from this happy, effusive, volcano. So here is a song for my forever love, and best friend, Egizio.

I know why superman had super powers: he went shopping with Egizio.