CHAPTER :
A Lifetime
With entries from:
Rita Romano   —   10 years ago

Dear Leonard,
I met you over 45 years ago in my Grade 10 English class and little did I know then that I would fall in love.... for a lifetime. As a shy, introspective student, I entered quietly into the classroom where our matchmaker, Mrs. Sinclair, English teacher extraordinaire waited while I laid eyes on your words for the very first time. I read your words lazily at first.... but became light-headed by the end of the second line. My pulse began to race, my heart pounded, my throat tightened. I had never had this reaction to neither prose nor poetry and I could not understand what was happening. I was transported to the river in the poem, I watched the scene unfold as Suzanne served the tea and oranges and wondered what had made her half crazy. Our matchmaker, Mrs. Sinclair brought me back saying, "Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Leonard Cohen and his Suzanne" and then proceeded to play the song. Your voice filled the classroom. And you stole my heart and have kept it for a lifetime. With every CD I listen to, every concert I attend, every poem I read.....my reaction is the same as it was that long ago afternoon in Grade 10 English class. God bless our matchmaker. I have loved you ever since......in fact, for a lifetime.

  • - just now