Ciao Bella

My neighbor and short-time but lasting impact friend, Chiara was killed this weekend. She was visiting her great aunt for her birthday and hitting up a law school prom in Boston when a drive by in Dorchester, MA tragically took her from this world.

Chiara was a beautiful, intelligent, imaginative, creative, culinary, sensitive person with exquisite taste and an elan I can best describe as Euro-Fab. She looked remarkably like Rebecca Gayheart, the former Noxema girl also hailing from the state of Kentucky.

She was a reveler of life. She was unadulterated in her zest for experience and exploration of the world. She had been planning to move to Italy this summer after spending this year in New York. She'd been here since July when she graduated from the University of Michigan and moved here to start a new life.

I will miss her every thursday as I tune into Grey's Anatomy without her McWeepiness. She was often reduced to tears by some sadness on screen or in real life--she just felt with a quiet intensity I can only relay as empathy. Her generosity in spirit and with spirits made my world a brighter place. Like her voluminous, untamed curls she quickly became something to everyone whose life she touched--like the sun in its wanton rising and setting. She radiated a warmth and curiosity that I can best sum up as genuine and youthful.

Here's an article in the NY Post about Chiara Maria Levin.

Ciao Bellissima Chiara!