Snuggled up

If you don't become like children… When I hear these words, I immediately think of Leonardo. I think of his two full years of life just completed, his sly look, his little face, a perfect synthesis of the features of mum and dad. I think of his first steps a year ago, of his conquests, of the sudden smiles that light up those who look at him. I think of his discoveries, of the future he has before him, of the joys and hardships he will experience, but also of the love that he knows and will know how to sow in his path.

Leonardo is like a sprout that day after day reveals new shades of himself. A continuous discovery that feeds beauty and amazement. Now, he is learning to speak. Let's be clear, he already understood everything like any child, but until a few weeks ago he was convinced that a simple finger was enough to communicate. Leonardo approached, gave a scream, pointed. And he almost always got what he wanted.
The news arrived quickly in just over a week. First a verse, then a syllable, a slightly more elaborate articulation, the conquest of sounds that finally become words: the names of animals, numbers, mom and dad, uncles, even Happy birthday to you, with incorporated hand beat. But there is a magic word that Leonardo has already memorized. He comes to mind as soon as he sees you. First a big smile, then the little hand that gets up to take yours and pull you away to the living room. You can only indulge it, follow it and then be amazed. "Exa!" He tells you he confidently. Leonardo calls this Alexa, the most famous voice assistant. For him it is nothing more than a magic box from which music comes out. And say "Exa!" it simply means asking for that. By now, anyone who knows Leonardo knows what to do. A song title is enough! «Alexa, put on The Anisello Nunù!».
At that point he raises his head, looks at you, stretches out his arms to come up with you. As soon as you pick him up, he calmly snuggles up on your shoulder to listen to music. He loves every genre, from the songs of the Zecchino d'Oro to The best years of our life by Renato Zero, from Antarctica by the Nuclear Tactical Penguins to the soundtracks of Ennio Morricone.

When he was younger, he often fell asleep like this. Two or three songs were enough: a memory now. Because now, Leonardo can spend hours relaxing, raising the head when a song ends, as if asking you for another one. Listening has really become something else.
If you do not become like children ... How much truth in these words! And how many lessons even in a situation that is only apparently trivial. Because Leonardo who listens to music can really open up a world, but above all he can indicate a method. Leonardo is not afraid to ask for help or even to trust. He knows that the only way to enjoy something beautiful is to take you by the hand. Leonardo does not hesitate to express tenderness and not even to seek contact. He is certainly a child, but he uses all the candor he is capable of without ulterior motives.

Leonardo understood that he alone can do little way and that on the contrary it is nice to have a shoulder to rest on, without saying anything, keeping silence and listening together. Leonardo may not yet realize it, but his simplicity reminds us that even being curled up is an art. Snuggle up to the affection and love of people, to the Presence of God when you meet him, to hope, but above all to the life that happens and that no longer frightens. Life which is always good. Thanks Leonardo! If you don't become like children…


Matteo Spicuglia
NP December 2021