When Matteo was born, the doctors told us he was slightly underweight, but we weren't concerned—his two older sisters had been the same way at birth, and they turned out healthy (and are now university graduates). The next day, we were called back to the clinic. That's when they told us and my wife that Matteo had Down syndrome. It was a heavy blow, I won't lie. But we were immediately surrounded by a specialist team, a social worker, and someone from the Association of Parents of Children with Down Syndrome. With their help, we made sense of it all quickly. Not every train is an Eurostar, I realized. Some are local trains that move slowly—and Matteo would be one of those. Thanks to all that support, I had no trouble accepting that Matteo was different and talking about it openly with my wife Luisa, even thinking about his future. We were part of a family group at our parish back then, and with those friends we could talk about Matteo from the very beginning. They were real friends—they welcomed him without hesitation. Through the association, I had the chance to speak with other fathers, but I found it hard to open up there or elsewhere, because most of their children with Down syndrome had other serious conditions attached to it—heart problems, vision issues, and so on. Matteo was completely healthy. That made us feel enormously fortunate by comparison. (We eventually stopped going to the association because it was too far from home.) I can't say I was disappointed by Matteo's birth. Quite the opposite. From the start, he's been so full of light—and still is—that being with him is easy and deeply rewarding.
Mario Ferrini (53) speaks about his son Matteo, 12 years old
Ombre e Luci no. 92, 2005