When the parish and the oratory become family and help those who suffer to go beyond every barrier. This is how I could summarize the life experience of Massimo Giardina, the 55-year-old from Milazzo who died too early but who also lived his life to the full. Massimo’s story is told by some of his lifelong friends and relatives, Antonio, Mamù and Paolo. Who was Maximus?
A special boy, who due to an accident at the age of 6 had to change his life and get used to living it in a wheelchair. A limit? Yes, but with the right people by your side, you find a new path, a new world in which to leave a mark, despite everything. «I met Massimo thanks to the oratory of the Sacred Heart – says Antonio – when we were all very young and dealing with this boy who had decided to close himself off to the world. But the friendship overcame many obstacles and he started living again, not letting go.” Massimo understood that he had a second chance close to his family and friends. And Paolo remembers: «He loved living, travelling, there was no place, concert or convivial that he would give up. And we didn’t know how to do anything without him being with us.” And it’s like this even now: Massimo loved 883 and today his friends begin a journey to fulfill his last wish: «Massimo – Paolo says – had already purchased the ticket for Max Pezzali’s next concert in Messina but someone had a different plan…». Hence his friends’ appeal to Max Pezzali to remember Massimo at the next concert even if only with a greeting. Special like him. Who understood the full meaning of life and lived it like this, challenging himself and managing to be, however, what he wanted to be.