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designed myself, made from diamonds drawn from my mother’s, my grandmother’s, and my great-grandmother’s rings—the three most cherished women in my life up to that point. The ring was a unique way to express to Bruna how special she was to me. I had no doubt that we would be together for the rest of our lives.
    We discussed getting married in Italy, because that was where we’d met, but the logistics of getting our family members there would have been a nightmare, not to mention the red tape involved in dealing with the Italian bureaucracy. Eventually, we decided that it would be much easier to get married in New Jersey while her parents were visiting. There was never any real question about where we would live—both Bruna and her parents were keen on her living close to New York, but in a comfortable, safe place.
    On December 17, 1999, Bruna and I were married in Eatontown, New Jersey, in a private ceremony attended only by our parents and my grandmother. Bruna was twenty-four years old, and I was thirtyone. The town mayor presided over the wedding ceremony. We had a small reception for the family at Molly Pitcher Inn, a well-known banquet location overlooking the Navesink River in Red Bank. In January 2000 we traveled to Brazil and had a big party with Bruna’s extended family members and friends. While in Brazil, we went to visit the town of Bahia, where her father was born. From there, Bruna and I spent our honeymoon at a nearby Club Med resort. When we returned to the States, we set up housekeeping in the town house.
    During the early months of our marriage, I continued to do modeling shoots, but I turned down all long-distance trips that would have taken me away from home for more than a few days. Bruna understood the fashion business, the travel requirements, and how, as a model, I might need to be gone for a day or two, then get to be home for three or four days. Even though we were so close to New York, and as well connected as I was with many people in the fashion industry, Bruna was uneasy about the idea of working in the city. She didn’t want to make the daily commute. Instead, she began to teach an evening class in Italian at Brookdale Community College, near our home.
    When we learned that Bruna was pregnant, I was overjoyed. I loved her with all my heart, and creating a new life together just made everything perfect. Other than my college girlfriend, I’d had only one other serious relationship, one that lasted about four years. That woman was special to me, and I will always cherish the memories of that time. For a while I thought that she might be “the one,” but things ultimately didn’t work out. We were apart for long periods of time, both of us being models and traveling a great deal.
    But when I met Bruna, something in me woke up. It was a yearning to be a dad, to have a family, to raise a child with the woman I would be with forever. To me, Bruna was the right woman at the right time, and in my heart and mind, we were destined to be together and to bring a precious little baby into the world. I couldn’t have been happier.
    Bruna had an easy pregnancy; she wasn’t sick, and she seemed to glow with the joy of imminent motherhood. I didn’t really want to know in advance whether our child was a girl or a boy, but Bruna did. I acquiesced, and the ultrasound revealed that we were having a boy. “Okay, that’s great,” I said. “We can paint the upstairs bedroom blue.” We enjoyed picking out baby clothes for a little boy, getting his nursery ready, and seeing to all the myriad details involved in preparing for a baby.
    At the baby shower, Bruna stood up and in a heartfelt gesture expressed her gratitude to all of our relatives. “I thank you for accepting me, and I feel as if we are one big family,” she gushed.
    On May 25, 2000, we welcomed a child into our world. At the moment of his birth, the umbilical cord was