- Notice Me
I've been part of the Faith and Light community for about nine years now. In that time, a deep friendship has grown among us. I get along well with everyone in my group, "The Archipelago," made up of people who come to our meetings and those who don't. But what matters most to me is this: Faith and Light holds profound meaning in the world we live in. With all its strengths and weaknesses, it helps us become better.
Friendship is important to me with everyone. So is fitting into everyday society, with everything that comes with it. You have to learn to accept yourself for who you are.
I hope that in my future I can get what I want, even if it seems impossible. Each of us dreams of something—in work, in love, in other things that would be more fulfilling and bring change. I wish I were valued more, but the older I get, the more I stay the same as I was. If someone wants me to, I can keep writing so others will notice me, for what I'd like to have from life. I know I'm wrong to think about it all the time—it becomes an obsession—but I hold onto the hope that it will come true.
Goodbye
Giovanni Grossi
A Friend Is a Friend
Friendship is something you have to know how to nurture. Some friends are sincere—when you're in trouble, they're always ready to help. But sometimes there are friends who are friends only as long as they think they can get something out of it. When they don't reach their goal and their friend is going through hard times, they disappear. That's not good, because if you're a friend, you should be a friend in the true sense of the word. You should help your friend in difficult moments. People who show friendship only when things are easy are opportunists and selfish.
True friendship requires good relations, affection, sympathy, and understanding. If relations between friends are poor, if there's no sympathy, understanding, or affection, problems arise. In that case it's better to lose those friends. But when the relationship is good and you understand each other, everything goes well.
As the proverb says, whoever finds a friend finds a treasure. And as Venditti's song puts it, you'd need a friend to forget the pain.
In the Faith and Light community I visit every sixteen days, I have many friends with whom I have excellent relationships. And we don't see each other only at our gatherings—sometimes we call each other on the phone. That's what's beautiful about friendship. Each of us should comfort and confide in our friends, especially in difficult times. But always with one condition: your friend can't play two parts, because if he does, it's better to lose him.
If there were no friendship, the world would be finished.
Maurizio Marcolini - Community of St. Anna, Rome
Companions on the Journey
I'm writing to say that the magazine, its subject matter, and the way the articles are presented satisfy me only partly. This isn't criticism—I'm aware that reading just one issue means my judgment is incomplete and can never capture the full scope of what you've taken on: improving the lives of disabled people and their friends and family.
I have multiple sclerosis and am one hundred percent disabled. I was a professional nurse, and I can say with some confidence that I know little about life—whether healthy or sick. No matter how broad my experience, I've only lived thirty-five years.
I feel fortunate to have made contact with you. I'm sure I'll have much to learn. But I'd like there to be space—perhaps used differently than it is now—to talk about the gifts that come to all of us through the sick, gifts that reach those of us who try, with goodwill and an open heart and spirit, to be companions on the journey.
Thank you for the attention you've shown me.
Lucìa Pintonello Tradate (VA)