The friend who can smile

Gigi and her desire to discover the world despite everything

Gigi cried when he told me about his misadventures, as if to underline that despite his desire to start a new life, often this doesn't help you. But Gigi reacted, because he knows what beauty is, he feels it and he understood her essence.

I met Gigi by chance. I was walking along the romantic road in the woods, which leads from my house to the small bar in the village, when I noticed a boy of about forty who was doing some work near the bus stop: cutting grass, two benches made from fallen trees, fences and planters made with intertwined lianas, and other small artifacts that made the area immediately more orderly and welcoming. I stopped the car next to him and introduced myself before asking what he was doing, and the answer really impressed me: "I'm trying to make this place more pleasant! Don't you think it's better now?" There was no doubt that the whole area had been redeveloped, and my answer could only highlight his commitment and his creativity, as well as thanking him for the time he dedicated to our country.

The following days I always found him there, in that curve, which we renamed "Gigi's curve" from his first work; equipped with tools and will, smiles to dispense to passers-by or sweat to donate, come rain or shine, and without ever complaining that no one stopped to help him. Over time we have learned to know each other, to break down the mistrust between us, to find the trust necessary to tell each other, and all this with the simplicity of someone who does not judge but simply tries to listen and understand the other.

Slowly the topics of our dialogues evolved to lead us to take off those clothes that we all wear for fear of showing our true soul, and finally, we tried to share our true emotions.

Gigi told stories of drugs and abuse, but luckily she already seemed to be rejecting his past. However, bad luck continued to persecute him, first making him slam into a house owner who, with the excuse of not being able to prepare a regular rental contract, had Gigi pay his expenses in cash without paying the bills that gradually arrived, then, discovering that the same subject "stole" the electricity, which supplied his studio flat, from the condominium meter. Finally, even being threatened with physical violence if he had intended to report the incident. The absurd story degenerated further when they disconnected the house's utilities, because Gigi was in default, an event that forced him to live the two years of the pandemic without water, electricity and heating. But that's not all, because Gigi also found himself undergoing a series of criminal trials for various crimes charged against him, but which probably should have had other protagonists. As if that weren't enough, in conjunction with the hearings which proved to be very onerous, his employer in Switzerland fired him, and, precisely because he was under investigation, left him without pay from one day to the next.

Gigi cried when he told me about his misadventures, as if to underline that despite his desire to start a new life, often this doesn't help you. But he still reacted, because he knows what beauty is, he feels it and he understood his essence. So he rolled up his sleeves and tried again; in the meantime he has changed his home, job, friends; he cut his hair, shaved, and threw himself into volunteer work, dedicated time to people, nature, new encounters, and set off again with the simplicity of a child discovering the world, to which, however, despite everything, he never stopped trusting.

Today Gigi smiles at the bus stop while doing his chores as a volunteer, smiles in the pizzeria when he prepares his tasty and imaginative pizzas, smiles when he sings with his piano, when he enters the bar to have breakfast, when I tease him because he doesn't wash the car or when I ask him to get up early in the morning because sunrise is as romantic as sunset. Today, Gigi smiles.

Max Laudadio
NP Maggio 2023