Widdout love, it ain't prayer you's saying in church. You's just
breathing up air and making noise for no good reason, like dat
big-mouth chooch Eddie. God bless him, but that guy never shuts up.
It don't matter if you can see the freakin' future like that fat broad
with the hair. And don't tell nobody I said it, but Father Luzzi can't
even cut the mustard with God, not without love. You could be Mother
Theresa- you know give everything away, not be dead- but without love
in your heart, you's nothin.
Love is about being patient and kind (like Nonny, God rest her soul)
not about being big, or smart, or important, or havin' a Ferarri like
spacone Vito. If you love, you don't go being rude or knowin'
everything; you don't hold a vendetta against nobody. If somethin'
happens to somebody you don't laugh at 'em, you root for 'em, even if
you really don't like 'em much. Love is for the long haul, like me and
your Auntie Cookie- even though she drives me coogootz sometimes.
Love doesn't die; some of that other stuff that people know or can do
don't matter ten minutes after they do it. The good stuff will bear
the test of time- the other stuff---aaaaah, it don't matter.
In 79 years, I went from acting like a baby to acting like a kid
(which I was- I drove Nonny nuts). Now I'm grown up and things aren't
workin' so good. I’ve got my eyes, I’ve got my teeth- aaaaah. But I got
smart, and I learned how not to be a chooch, and that's somethin' right?
But you know, I got my faith (I go to Mass every morning now), I got
hope (I want to see Nonny again) and I got love for everybody, even
Eddie. Like the kids say- "love is da bomb".