“A kiss and a hug in a dream”. It’s too little for a parent who has lived on the fullness of real hugs and kisses. But now this is the desire he expresses Tiziano Luconi for his first Father’s Day where dad isn’t anymore. His Mattia, ‘Matti’ as he calls him, was swallowed up by the black sea of mud that overwhelmed part of the Marche region on 15 September. Mattia was 8 years old and was the only son of Tiziano, an educator in a community of unaccompanied immigrant minors.
“I dedicate this day to all lonely dads like me. To those who have lost a child in war or to an illness, or, like in Cutro, to seek salvation in other lands. It would be nice if all the dads who have their little gnomes would give us orphaned fathers a thought”, sighs Tiziano, 38, from his home in Barbara, in the province of Ancona. The Nevola, the river that arises from the union of two streams, was transformed into a deadly wave during the flood that hit the provinces of Pesaro-Urbino, Ancona and also devastated some hamlets of Gubbio. Mattia was in the car with his mother, Silvia, when the car was dragged by the swollen river. Mom and son have abandoned the car. The woman was thrown up a tree, Mattia was carried away by the fury of the water.
“I seek comfort in my work”
“Nostalgia has become my most faithful friend, but Mattia never wanted to see me sad. So I strengthen myself also thanks to my work”, says Tiziano while photographing the crafts that Mattia had prepared for him during the past parties dedicated to his father. Two blue hands that open and close in an accordion where it says: “I love you so much”. “My children, even if not biological, have become all the minors I assist in the community where I work. They are between 14 and 18 years old – explains the educator -. I teach them to speak Italian, to cook, to carry out some tasks. At a a couple of them, whom I have already known for years, I told about Mattia. I explained to him how my life went, we hugged and cried. Some have lost their sister or mother in the crossing. We make strength between of us who know the pain of such a heartbreaking loss.”.
The community is also the place where father Tiziano Luconi takes refuge to escape the reality that has upset his existence. “From the community you can see the agrinido where Matti’s body was found – he says – and some colleagues have noticed that I often look out with teary eyes to stare at the point where my gnome was dragged by the mud”.
Father’s Day, when Mattia was there, began with the gifts that Tiziano gave to his son. “I used to pick him up from school, buy him sweets and we’d spend the day together. It happened that I worked on that day or on holidays and now I realize how much I’ve lost,” he recalls.
The investigation moved to L’Aquila
Six months after the flood that took 12 lives, the investigation passed from the Ancona prosecutor’s office to that of L’Aquila. The fear of all the family members is that the process of obtaining justice will slow down. “I’m waiting for the conclusion of the investigations to start touring the schools and talking about prevention – assures Tiziano -. Mattia must be the latest victim of such distraction”.
But the moments of discouragement are many. “Sometimes I wonder why I continue to live, the setback was strong – his voice cracks -. I’m looking for my reason for living in the creation of an educational farm with educators for special children. I have a handkerchief of land in Barbara on the Serra de’ Conti valley. Who knows if the institutions, who have been on the run for six months, will make all this a reality: it was my Mattia’s dream”.
