A Father’s Day letter from
Heaven
 |
| The letter Giovanni wrote to Massimo, his father |
"The loss of a child is a black hole into which the
entire family falls". The words of Pope Francis express a pain that never
goes away. Giovanni had been gone almost 8 years when his father found a letter
his son had written to him before he died. It was like reading a letter from
Heaven.
By Benedetta Capelli
"Yesterday was Father's Day. My two daughters wished me
a ‘Happy Father’s Day’ first thing in the morning. But all day long, I couldn’t
help thinking about my son, Giovanni. When I got home, I started looking
through his things, something I hadn't done since he died. I found greeting
cards from friends, stickers of his football team, photographs... and a piece
of paper in Giovanni’s handwriting that began: ‘Dear Dad...’”.
Massimo Raimondi is the “Dad” Giovanni addresses in the
letter. He has kind eyes and working hands. Massimo spends his days assisting
the needy at Rome’s Caritas Centre, the Citadel of Charity that Pope Francis
visited last December. He speaks slowly and thoughtfully as he tells the story
of finding his son’s letter.
Giovanni Raimondi
The letter
Since Giovanni’s death, nearly eight years ago, Massimo and
his wife Anna have been trying to live their lives as best they can. They
attend Mass regularly, together with their two daughters, Antonella and
Alessandra. But Giovanni is always present. Every 23rd of June,
the feast of St. John the Baptist, his friends gather to eat a pizza in his
honor. Then, on 20 March 2019, Massimo came across an unread letter addressed
to him from his son.
"Dear Dad, I know it may seem strange to you, but
it's me, Giovanni, writing this letter. Every time our family was in some kind
of trouble, you always blamed yourself. But maybe you didn't notice all the
good you did. I could make a list for you, but it would fill a whole
diary...".
Belief in ideals
Massimo was overcome with feelings of love and loss as he
read the words of his deceased child. In the letter, Giovanni refers to the
many challenges the family has had to face, situations “that would have broken
anyone”, he says. But he praises his father’s ability to bounce back and to
provide the family with a home and security.
“Have you ever stopped to think”, writes Giovanni, “about
what you were able to build? Despite the difficulties, you continued believing
in your ideals". Ideals like trusting in God’s love and Providence,
respecting others even if they fail to respect you, opening your home in
welcome to those who have no home.
Welcoming others
That’s what happened with Daniel whose mother was in prison.
Massimo, Anna, Giovanni, Antonella and Alessandra became the child’s Italian
family. It all started when the prison chaplain of Rome’s Rebibbia penitentiary
asked Massimo to accompany a young boy on a visit to his mother who was serving
a jail sentence there. Massimo was volunteering at the prison facility at the
time. “Every Saturday I would collect Daniel from the religious community where
he lived and take him back there afterwards”, recalls Massimo. “But I realized
the child needed something more".
So Daniel started staying over at Massimo's house, playing
with his children. Eventually, the Raimondi family took him into foster care.
Murals done in memory of Giovanni by his friends
A test of faith?
Giovanni’s illness was totally unexpected. He woke up one
morning and found he couldn’t walk. The long trial of diagnoses,
hospitalizations and unanswered questions began. His sisters and parents never
left his side. When he died, the family was more united than ever.
"Giovanni’s death”, says Massimo, “brought us together, thanks to our
faith”.
On the day of the funeral, someone suggested the Lord was
testing that faith. “Impossible, I said. The Lord I love so much, the Father
who picked me up me so many times, couldn’t take my son away from me”.
Massimo and Anna
He is with us
"I’m convinced he’s in Heaven, waiting for us”, says
Massimo. “It feels like he’s still with us: I see him in the kitchen, on the
balcony when I’m watering the flowers". Giovanni lives on in the memories
of those he loved, and who love him.
They feel his presence and take comfort in imagining how
happy he would have been to know he would soon be an uncle – to Nicholas, his
sister’s first child, and Massimo and Anna’s first grandchild.
“Dear Dad, let me tell you with all my heart: you’re a
winner!”
Reading those lines from his son on Father’s Day, says
Massimo, was like reading something that came straight from Heaven.
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