“Remember, family and friends are the most important parts of one’s life so live every moment like it’s your last while time vanishes.”
Morris Park octogenarian Theresa Medici expresses these seldom ignored truths in her self-published literary debut, ‘Time Vanishes Like A Rose.’
Medici’s life experiences are shared through her poems, prose and short stories dedicated to friends and loved ones who have helped her along this journey.
For over a decade, Medici has written about her lessons in love, life, friends, family and humorous experiences while traveling aboard.
Time Vanishes Like A Rose allows its readers an intimate insight into what Medici has learned through love, faith, challenges, disappointments, dreams, positive and negative experiences.
The result is a relatable and emotionally driven read from start to finish.
One such piece, ‘Mother’s Sad Blue Eyes,’ which is dedicated to Medici’s late mother, is a particularly heartfelt piece that makes readers more mindful of what their loved ones have sacrificed so that their children may live a happy life.
Medici said that she has had readers call her to express how much of an impact her works have had on them.
Working in collaboration with her friend Sheldon Norman, who created the book’s iconic cover art, the duo spent the past eight months creating and producing the literary publication.
Each of Medici’s pieces express what it means to be human by experiencing love, loss, struggles and finding peace in sometimes chaotic or routine-filled life.
Medici cites poets William Blake and Robert Frost and novelist Mary Shelley among her favorite literary luminaries.
Her passion for dance, politics and music shine through in her intricate rhymes and prose.
She explained that her book’s thought provoking title was inspired by her friend, Benjamin Schittone who taught her everything she knows about opera and philosophy.
“I remember Benjamin shared with me a quote by the philosopher Omar Khayyam which goes ‘Alas, that spring should vanish with the Rose! That Youth’s sweet-scented Manuscript should close’,” Medici explained.
Much like Khayyam’s quote, Medici’s book expresses lament at the passage of time, but it also reflects the joys that its many memories bring.
Schittone’s photo collage titled ‘Yesterday’ depicting Medici and her friends living in East Harlem during their youth serves as a visual centerpiece that captures the essence of Time Vanishes Like A Rose’s theme.
“Each photo has behind it a story to tell,” she expressed. “Some are gone, but not forgotten.”
A section in the book called Puzzle Pieces from Yesterday shares stories behind each of the people and places that make up the montage.
Medici confirmed that she has plenty of unpublished poems, prose and short stories that she may include in a future book.
She is planning on hosting Time Vanishes Like A Rose readings at the Starving Artist’s Cafe in City Island.
To purchase Time Vanishes Like A Rose, visit www.lulu.com/
