ALWAYS RUNNING

Last Saturday – November 28th, - was the birthday of my first daughter. On the same date was born also the novelist Alberto Moravia, who said about loyalty and love;

“Loyalty, Signor Molteni, not love. Penelope is loyal to Ulysses but we do not know how far she loved him...and as you know people can sometimes be absolutely loyal without loving. In certain cases, in fact, loyalty is a form of vengeance, of blackmail, of recovering one's self-respect. Loyalty, not love.”

This is a sentence really important for me, especially this year. I will tell you when you will grow up, Maitea. At this stage, you just need to know the meaning of your name: LOVE, BELOVED. I will fight for your smile forever. I am continuing to repeat myself a quote from Momo, a novel written by Michael Ende:

“...it's like this. Sometimes, when you have a very long street ahead of you, you think how terribly long it is and feel sure you'll never get it swept. And then you start to hurry. You work faster and faster and every time you look up there seems to be just as much left to sweep as before, and you try even harder, and you panic, and in the end, you're out of breath and have to stop--and still the street stretches away in front of you. That's not the way to do it. You must never think of the whole street at once, understand? You must only concentrate on the next step, the next breath, the next stroke of the broom, and the next, and the next. Nothing else. That way you enjoy your work, which is important because then you make a good job of it. And that's how it ought to be. And all at once, before you know it, you find you've swept the whole street clean, bit by bit. what's more, you aren't out of breath. That's important, too...”

Like this year, I want to continue with more stubbornness, my purpose to enjoy every single moment with you and your sister, learning with you something new every day, because I don’t want to be a teacher, the mission of my life is transferring knowledge to the world. As a parent, you and your sister will be the direct people to achieve everything I know. Even if I will not be satisfied personally in my professional life, or my love’s life is a D.O.A., I don’t want to forget my purpose: your smiles. I focused my attention on them and all my efforts since the day when you were born and I will focus on the rest of my life. The soundtrack of the year when you were born was a song with who the artists won the Sanremo’s festival: YOU HAVEN’T DO ANYTHING TO ME. In particular, there is a sentence for you: The world gets back up with the smile of a child. We’ll dance and sing forever, and I apologize in advance to our neighbors because I am aware I am totally off-key. For now, it is enough that you and your sister, Chimamanda Lavinia, who today December 2nd, is already 9 months old, are always peppy children.