Loredana Capobianco (Marketing & Communication Executive, Rome Cavalieri)
英語

Story of a long-lasting, special friendship

‘Friendship is love without his wings’. And I can truly tell you all that there is nothing in this world and in human life more precious, worthy to be loved, safer than a true friend.

When I was 17 I spent a full month in England, at the Beechwood Sacred Heart College, where I met a great man, the dearest Mr Sullivan. Well, to be honest with you, he was my English Professor, a very nice person, always respectful, patient, passionate about his job and eager to teach us at his best, funny and pleasant at the same time. But as always happens, and as life is as volatile and fragile, when something gets to its end and you, regrettably, have to say ‘goodbye’, then new people, new experiences, new places, new friends are already ready to welcome you in their lifes… and those ones you previously met are quickly put back into that drawer called ‘past’, which becomes richer and richer as years flow away.

‘C’est la vie’, they use to say: nothing less, nothing more. Yet I truly believe that ‘la vie’ is also, if not mainly, what you build with your own hands, with passion, dedication, sacrifice, strength of willingness: and human relationships do likewise.

That man was not only my Professor but, despite the distance, despite the different experiences and personal stories through the years, he has become one of my most reliable friends. Karl and I never ‘stopped being friends’ – technology definitely has helped us a lot! – any occasion, any time is a good one to get in touch, drop a line, ask to the other ‘How’s life there with you?’, be supportive with a ‘Stay well, stay happy’, or even a simple but warm ‘Ciao mate…’ together with a smile.

If someone would ask me how and why we became such friends, believe me, I wouldn’t be really able to answer. They say that life is made of invisible, finest threads which link our little lives together: no matter where in the globe you are, no matter who you are. And maybe that’s what happened to us: the strange game of destiny, which rolls the dice in the way you would never expect, but what it gives to you will last for the eternity, something which can never be stolen, something which is unassailable even by Time, humans’ greatest enemy. And when my mind and my memory run back to that time, to my 17s, to that experience away from home, to those hours spent learning English grammar and rules and pronunciation, and, above all, to this long-lasting friendship, my heart and my soul start smiling and it looks as if Time has never passed by. It was a month only, few hours together, a picture of us, and a French poem for me, in the diary of my 17s: but so many memories which I am sure neither me nor you, my dear friend, will never forget.

Thank you for having spent some of your time in reading these lines: I truly hope that you, like me, will keep on building strong human relationships which could last for a lifetime, as there is nothing as special as a true friend, and nothing as rare and precious as a pure feeling of affection.