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People I Did Not Meet on Vacation...Bjorn

Bjorn came to Venice looking for love. As you can tell from looking at him, Bjorn is a rather large fellow. He hails from Dale, Norway, which is a little river village built along a fjord that ultimately leads to the port city of Bergen. As a child, his grandmother Elsa told him that he was descended from the giants of Norse mythology. While Bjorn would rather have been a descendent of Thor or Odin, his giant lineage did explain why he was the only six foot thirteen year old in his class.

He wasn’t done growing.

In fact, at seven foot three inches, he towers over the average man, which is why his career is that of a professional basketball player. Despite his height, Bjorn lacks agility of hand and foot. In other words, he is a bit clumsy, which is why he rides the bench of a Euroleague Basketball team rather than starring in the NBA. Being a basketball player allowed him to leave home, where the rest of his family works at the local factory that makes Norwegian Wool Sweaters. His Euroleague career has allowed him to travel much of Europe, but the lonely nights in cheap hotels led him to question his purpose in life.

Even though he was blessed with height, his soul yearned for something much different. After a game in Moscow, while the rest of his teammates went to a nearby bar, Bjorn wandered the streets until a poster for the Russian Nutcracker ballet caught his eye. You see, when Bjorn was still young, his favorite activity in class was dancing, until his monstrous snowshoe feet robbed him of all grace. Despite his strength and height, Bjorn longed for just a few moments where he could feel graceful.

So he watched the Nutcracker.

Soon, Bjorn found himself searching the internet for other ballets in Madrid, Munich, Barcelona, and Istanbul. After every game, he watched ballerinas twirl and float through the air in ways he never could. He kept his new obsession hidden from his teammates, and at the theaters and concert halls, he had to choose seats in the back so as not to block the view of other patrons. It was during his seventh season in the Euroleague that he first witnessed the Italian ballerina Carla Grisi.

The ebony haired whirlwind became Bjorn’s secret obsession, and during his eighth season, he watched her perform on four different occasions.

But a 7’3” red head tends to stand out in the crowd.

During his pregame warmup against the team from Athens, he saw a petite brunette hiding behind a pair of sunglasses in the fourth row near center court.

Bjorn missed two dunks and had an awkward fall in the five minutes he played that night as the glassy eyed Carla watched emotionlessly. He held his head low as he went to the locker room after the game.

But when he returned, Carla Grisi waited in the stands. The Norwegian and Italian locked eyes, and there in front of a few curious teammates, Bjorn confessed his love of the ballet to her. Carla did not seem impressed by basketball.

However, she explained that she would be performing again in Moscow in December and that she’d like to have dinner with him if his team was in town.

It was.

The following game, Bjorn’s attention was not on basketball, which is why he didn’t notice the loose ball or the point guard leaping for it. The weight of a grown man crashed into the side of his white pillar of a leg, tearing three ligaments. Bjorn needed surgery and spent the month of December in rehab.

In January, the team cut him.

For the rest of winter and into spring, Bjorn watched the Daleelva River slowly thaw as he dreamed of Carla whirling on the stage.

With his career as a basketball player over, Bjorn went to work at the woolen mill even though he had enough cash saved up to buy a home outright. It kept his mind off of all that he lost.

But by midsummer, Bjorn realized that his heart did not ache for the end of his career--it ached for Carla.

So he logged onto the internet to find out where in the world his beloved ballerina would be performing next only to find out that Carla would be the lead in Madame Butterly, which would be playing at the Teatro La Fenice Opera House in Venice.

So Bjorn purchased a ticket for the front row.

Do you see him behind me? He was on his way to find the theater because later that night, he would find out if Carla was only curious about the red-headed stalker or if she might be willing to begin a relationship.

That is what brought Bjorn into my picture.


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