A LEAP OF THE EARLY BIRD

It was all in the spice...

The right ingredients make a world of difference. Whether it would be for a pie, a sandwich, a partnership, or that everlasting kind of love. The right ingredients have the potential of turning an ordinary recipe into the most unforgettable one of a kind dish. One that could not soon be forgotten. Or perhaps, ever. And a good recipe for love leaves room for a little bit of imagination. A little bit of hope. A little bit of courage. Because a heart in love does not ask for directions for the right path to take, which way to turn, or which emotion to feel. It trusts. It trusts its own judgement. It trusts its own feelings. And above all it trusts in that love.

Sanem was a magician when it came to brewing tea. She simply possessed a skill in her hands that turned tea into the most delightful potion. It was for that reason that Can demanded tea from her, and requested that only she was permitted to make him his tea. It was also for that reason that Sanem felt compelled to create an unforgettable dish of raw cutlets for him, because she was convinced he would love them just the same and would never forget them. She was right, he would not, but not because those cutlets turned out to be her masterpiece of a dish...

She made a bold decision to make raw cutlets for Can. Can Divit - a man who toured the world and tried all kinds of world renowed dishes. As such, she knew she had to step up her game if she were to create a dish that would impress Can. She worked her hands in the paste until they hurt. She worked so hard that when Mevkibe and Nihat returned home they were left baffled and numb from knowledge that Sanem dared to cook a dish herself. For Can, no less. Sanem knew that one of the most important ingredients in cooking was love. She knew her mother's cooking tasted differently from others' because of the love and heart she put into it. Some would say that the way to a man's heart was through his stomach. If that were true, then Mevkible cooked her way to Can's heart, and she remained there. But, Mevkibe, in her motherly heart and wisdom, also knew how to recognize when a woman was preparing a dish out of love for a man. That kind of a dish and its preparation looked different, felt different, and would always and forevermore taste different. Because the kind of love that went into preparing that dish entailed a different kind of love. There was a difference in cooking for family, than for cooking for the beloved. Cooking for the beloved also resulted in a different appearence of the dish in the end. Something that Sanem was counting on...

Mevkibe and Nihat suspected that Sanem may have had developed feelings for Can. Seeing her working on a dish just for him, they had no more doubts. Sanem was in love. With Can Divit. A man that was becoming like a son to them. A polite, well mannered, and deeply sincere man. But a man so out of reach for their daughter that it broke their heart. They knew Sanem was very young, innocent, and inexperienced in matters of the heart. They knew how the world worked, and that a young woman with a heart of a dreamer stood a greater chance of having her heart broken than having that love returned back. But they also had the wisdom of their hearts to guide them in what they needed to be say. Nihat decided that Mevkibe would talk to Sanem about matters of the heart. He knew he would not have enough of a father's strength to crush his daughter's dream about her love for Can.

So Mevkibe gathered her thoughts and spoke with Sanem with all the love she held in her motherly heart. She did not scold Sanem for aiming too high, for reaching so far beyong the limits set by the society and class. She spoke softly. She let love guide her words. Mevkibe knew that time would come when they would need to speak about love. Yet, Sanem was so different from others that she had not looked for love, she looked for dreams and light in others. She told Sanem that love was a beautiful thing. It had the power to change lives. The true kind of love that was reciprocated was life's greatest gift. If found, love filled both hearts of the beloved with fulfillment and hope and contentment. But sometimes love fell short of reaching the other one's heart. No matter how hard one would try to shake love into the heart of the other, it would be of no use. Sometimes love just was not felt back. But, what would one do when a love felt in one heart did not come back to them? How did one deal with rejected love?

Mevkibe's words now came not from a heart of a mother, but from a woman's. She told Sanem not to be upset if her love would not reach Can's heart, though she dared not to mention his name. She loved her daughter more than life itself, but she also knew her daughter would need to figure out life's truths all by herself. She told Sanem that there would be so many others ready and eager to fall in love with her and love her back. She did not have to think of only one man in her life. Sanem replied that Mevkibe herself spoke of only Nihat. Hearing those words both touched and crushed Mevkibe's heart in a silent blow. She had not realized the depth of Sanem's feelings for Can, but now it became clear that Sanem not only though of him as her love, but as the only one kind of love. She no longer controlled tears that were flooding her eyes. She let them come. She told Sanem that when love was mutual, it held the power to last forever. But if not, that kind of love would hurt in the end. And that those born onto this world came to this world to be happy. And so they would. And so she would.

Sanem smiled and took her morher's words in the only way a heart in love could. As a good sign of requainted love to come, not as a vision of hurtful things that the future may bring. She smiled and added more spices to the already overspiced dish. To Mevkibe's horror, because Mevkibe knew that if Can by any chance would come to try those cutlets, his tounge would turn sideways from the heat of the peppers. She offered to help Sanem. But Sanem smiled again, and replied that those cutlets were her struggle. Her challenge to overcome. It was her battle for life. And love - she added silently in her heart. So Mevkibe told her to keep fighting, and keep that courage strong. It was the most a mother like Mevkibe could do at that moment...

How the cutlets turned out, only Can could tell. If only he could. Because the moment he tried them his tongue really did turn sideways. And inward, outward, and everywhere inbetween. He always felt that Sanem took his breath away. Now she really did it. Her scent and love took over all of his heart and soul, now the indescribable over-and-above spiciness took his breath away literally. He choked, coughed, and felt like the peppers actually combined with his blood. But he braved the taste, all in the name of Sanem and his love for her. Because he realized that she really did add spice to his otherwise dull and predictable world. Because it was all in the spice of her love...