The day before had been a beautiful day spent in the garden with my sister and brother in law. My sister was six months pregnant. They were so happy and so looking forward to the birth of their first child.
That night Mario suffered a heart attack, he was 45, a year younger than I am now.
Words can hardly describe the horror and total disbelief that this could have happened.
Mario was one of the kindest, most gentle men I have ever had the privilege to know.
He wasn't just my brother in law, he was family and I loved him
I don't apologise for a re posting. As long as I still have my blog I shall re post this every year on the anniversary of his death as a tribute to a man for whom I had enormous respect, affection and love for.
I Remember Mario
I remember the look of pride and sheer joy in his eyes as he placed his hand on her swollen stomach. ‘My little Piranha’ he said.
They smiled at the private joke, sharing a moment of complete happiness amid the chaos and noise of a family get together.
The plate of food lay forgotten on the table as he crouched down to talk to the young boy playing with his Action Man
.
Seeing her brother being paid so much attention caused the little girl to forget her shyness of this big man with the big voice. She toddled towards him and gently touched his face, ‘kiss’ she said as she lent forward and placed her lips where her fingers had been.
He looked at me and smiled. ‘This is what it’s all about’ he said without words, ‘this is who I was meant to be’.
When the phone call came early the next morning it made no sense at all. Years have passed and it still makes no sense.
He never met his beautiful girl. She didn’t get to kiss his cheek.
But while she may not have her own memories, as long as I remember, she will have mine.
Be happy and remember, that while when you lose someone, you don't ever get back the opportunity to do what you wished you had done, every moment leading up to that IS an opportunity to fulfil that wish.
Be happy and remember, that while when you lose someone, you don't ever get back the opportunity to do what you wished you had done, every moment leading up to that IS an opportunity to fulfil that wish.
2 comments:
What a beautiful post, Sarah.
Thank you E, Mario was a huge influence on my life and I don't think the missing him part will ever go away.
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