It was a perfect late summer day. The little farming village high in the mountains was quiet and had a lazy attitude, as if tired of summer heat and hard work. Yet something wasn’t quite right. The girl could feel it in the air. The way her parents were whispering behind the closed door and stopped when she walked into the room. “What’s wrong?” she asked puzzled. Her Dad put his hand on her shoulder and said: “You know how sometimes news can be upsetting or sad. But you have to realize that there’s nothing a person can do to change things. We’ve just heard some news you’re not going to like…”
Before he could finish, she instantly knew what was wrong, this bizarre sixth sense told her, what she was about to hear. Joe, her idol, the person she adored ever since she was a little kid, was gone, gone forever! The world crashed around her. Unable to speak or even cry she ran outside, towards the wheat field that spread behind the house they were renting for the summer. An agonizing question was drilling her brain: “Why?! Why him?!”
She spent most of that evening sitting on the bench, leaning against the brick wall still warm from the day’s heat, staring at the sky studded with brilliant stars. Her gaze was drifting from one constellation to another, as if she were trying to find that one special brightest star representing her guardian angel that has just ascended to heaven… And all of a sudden she realized something. She had to go on with her life and live it not only for herself, but for Joe, whose life was so brutally ended by cruel twist of fate…
Twenty six years have passed since that tragic day. The girl from 1980 went on to graduate from high school, then college, received her PhD degree, had an interesting career, married a wonderful man, traveled the world, etc. An exciting life full of ups and downs packed in twenty six years… And all these years she had her Joe in her thoughts, in her heart. His cherished image was like that light in the end of a tunnel that helped her keep going no matter how hard things could be at times. Her guardian angel was (and is!) always with her!
That little girl is me. Now I’m a mother of a precious little boy who shares Mom’s passion for Joe. His songs are my son’s lullabies, they accompany us anywhere we go: on the way to school or to a game of golf or tennis, etc. And every time we take our telescope out to the backyard to look at the night sky, I know that my very special bright star is up there, shining its brilliant light from eternity, illuminating our path. Thank you, my dear Joe, thank you for that light, thank you for the gift of hope and for the dreams that came true!