My Memoirs - Citizen of the World

and when I told her, she immediately started to walk away after
asking me to leave her alone. I persisted, continuing to walk
alongside her, telling her, "You are so beautiful, and I am going to
marry you some day!" She responded by telling me that I was
crazy, but I kept walking with her anyway. "I have some books I
must return to a colleague of mine," she said, and I could tell by
the change in her tone that she was getting used to my insistence.
Before long, we were having a pleasant conversation at Jardim de
Angra, a beautiful park in the middle of the city. When she had to
go, I insisted that we meet the next day so that we might get to
know each other a little better, and she agreed.
The next day, I happened to see a large picture of her at a
photographer's window downtown. I went inside the store in
hopes of purchasing it, but the sales clerk said he needed
authorization from the person in the picture before he could sell it
legally. Naturally, when I met with her again, I told her that she
had to go to the photographer's shop to give permission for me to
buy her beautiful picture, which she did. She also told me that we
could meet at the Holy Ghost Feast at Guarita, in the outskirts of
the city. She introduced me to many of her friends, and we had a
wonderful time.
That evening, when I returned home, I took down The Last Supper
(which was hanging on the wall of our dining room) and replaced
it with my new love's portrait. The next morning, my mother
noticed the difference and asked, "Who is that?" I told her that she
was a girl I had met and who I planned to marry one day. "You're
kidding me!?!” she said. “What are you going to do with the
dozens of pictures of girls you have inside the shoe box underneath
your bed?" I told her I was going to throw them all away, and my
mother laughed at me.
The next day was Deodete's trip to São Jorge Island, so I went to
Porto das Pipas pier in Angra do Heroísmo to say goodbye. I
asked her to send me a letter as soon as she arrived. For days I
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