Anna had recently lost her grandmother, Nonna Annamaria. She had a very close relationship with her and was having a hard time dealing with her grieving. As she helped her grandfather go through her grandmother’s belongings, since they were selling the estate, she noticed clothing pieces and accessories that she was interested in keeping. Anna loved vintage or obscure pieces and accessories. She loved fashion just like her grandmother, so this was one of the many things they had in common. She also felt that wearing something of her grandmother would make her feel her presence and keep her memory alive to others.

She noticed these glamorous sunglasses with large lenses. She liked them a lot. She wondered who the designer was, but there was no name on them. She asked her grandfather about them, and he said that her grandmother bought them somewhere in Rome in the early 70s when they lived there. She tried them on, and they were a perfect fit for her face, so she kept them.

When she got home that night, she went to bed and had yet another night of crying. She prayed to her grandmother to show her that she was still there with her. Anna had many problems in her life. She was married to a man who was a good provider, but a nasty person. They had no children because he was sterile, but refused to admit it. She knew she could get pregnant because she was pregnant before. She was pregnant as a teenager and lost the baby in a car accident. She was lucky to have survived. But her boyfriend at the time, who was also her child’s father, died. She was now working as a teacher and had become bored with it. She was thinking of ways to do what she really wanted to do – become a fashion designer.

Nonna Annamaria always gave her faith that things would get better, but without her around, Anna felt she was battling all these problems on her own. She was not the type of person to tell people anything was wrong. She was beautiful, stylish, intelligent, outgoing, and confident. That’s all people saw and knew because she was private about everything.

The next morning, it was very sunny, so she thought it would be a perfect day to wear her “new” sunglasses. She walked to work as usual, but noticed a new teacher in the courtyard of the school. He smiled at her, complimented her glasses, and introduced himself. His name was Angelo. He was the new Italian teacher. He came to New York from Milan a few weeks ago, and today was his first day. Angelo was quite a bit older than her but very handsome. He also had an amazing fashion sense and an even more amazing scent. She didn’t know what cologne he was wearing, but she wanted to be around him all the time because he smelled so good.

Anna and Angelo began to become friendly with each other. They would eat together at lunchtime and talk in the halls. One day, Angelo asked her about her sunglasses, and she explained that she did not know much about them. He then went on to tell her that he had a friend from Milan who was now living in Manhattan and worked as a fashion journalist. She specialized in obscure and vintage pieces. He thought she’d be very interested in maybe writing a piece on the sunglasses. He gave Greta’s phone number to Anna to contact her, but asked that she did not mention him. Anna thought it was a little strange. But she was happy for the opportunity, so she respected his request.

When Anna met with Greta, Angelo’s friend, after speaking to her about the sunglasses, which Greta loved, she mentioned she designed clothes as a hobby and made dresses. She showed Greta the dresses and told her that her grandmother, the owner of the sunglasses, taught her how to sew. They used to make dresses together. Greta loved the dresses even more than the sunglasses. She found Anna’s dresses to be unique. She asked her if she could do the article about Anna and her dresses instead of the sunglasses. Anna gladly accepted.

With the publicity from Greta’s article for her dresses, Anna was contacted by a fashion brand to see if she would like to come work for them in an entry-level position as a junior designer. Anna accepted the job.

She went home that evening to tell her husband, and he could not understand why she would leave a higher-paying job for a lower-paying job. He was obsessed with making money. Anna felt like this was the day for making changes, so she decided to leave her husband as well.

The next day at work, she gladly submitted her notice of resignation to the principal. She went to look for Angelo to tell him the great news and thank him for what he did for her, but she could not find him. She asked the other teachers where he was, and they did not know either. Unfortunately, Anna did not have any of his contact information.

Days passed, and Angelo never came back to school. Finally, on her last day, Anna asked the principal for Angelo’s phone number. He said the only number he had on file for him was a non-working number. He tried calling him when he did not show up for work. The only other person Anna could think of that might know where Angelo was or how to contact him was Greta.

When Anna asked Greta where she could find Angelo, since she knew they were friends, Greta was speechless, confused, and a little angry. Greta said that Angelo was her husband and he died a year ago of a sudden heart attack in Milan. He was never in New York. She moved to New York after his death. He also was never a teacher. They worked in the fashion industry. Anna was astonished and went on to tell her many things about him, to ensure it was the same person. Greta confirmed it was him. They even called the principal to confirm this was, indeed, the same Angelo.

After speaking with the principal, Greta believed that Angelo came back as a ghost or perhaps an angel, for a time, to watch over her. She was not having an easy time living without him or adjusting to New York. She wanted to go back to Milan. After she wrote the article about Anna’s dresses, more magazines wanted to work with her, so she decided to stay in New York. Greta and Anna became good friends.

Anna believes that Angelo was sent to her by her grandmother to help her with her life and to show her that she never left her side and will always be there. She continued to wear those sunglasses to see what her grandmother had on the agenda for her next adventure.