Night is a symbol of darkness, of the unknown, of the absence of that light we cannot find without a lamp and a traveling companion. Night envelops our planet, wounded and violated by fratricidal struggles, by wars still waged for the lust for power and money. Night is also the night inhabited by millions who no longer have a voice to cry out against injustice and abuse.
And what about us? How can we continue to believe in this renewed world that doesn't manifest itself according to our expectations? How can we recognize the signs of goodness in our everyday relationships? These are questions we don't always know the answers to, but they compel us to seek a fellow traveler we often don't see, to recognize the universal need for a spirituality inherent in human beings, a spirituality that can become present if we live in mutual love among ourselves.
Sometimes it's brief flashes of light, shining in the most unexpected ways, even through social media, that illuminate the night. Like the story of Chiara Badano and Sara Cornelio, two friends across time.
Sara, born in 1998, while still practically a child, "met" Chiara, who died at 19 in 1990, through the many encounters that tell her extraordinary life story. She discovered her as a friend, a partner in dreams, a confidante, and a powerful presence. Sara is a young woman who lives, sings, dances, studies, has friends, grows, and fascinates. At the same time, she lives the daily reality of a congenital illness that—not just figuratively—"takes her breath away." She lives with the certainty that "Love Conquers All" (the theme of her high school final project); she experiences the gift of a lung transplant and becomes a gift herself, which she will bear witness to through books, school visits, musical pieces and short films, a blog, and a theatrical performance.
She lived her wonderful family life, experiencing infatuation and love. Her death in 2022, at just 24 years old, left all those who loved her, even those who had simply met her on Facebook, bewildered and even more alone.
During her intense time on this earth, Sara has in Chiara a close friend who accompanies, encourages and supports her and who "reveals" herself in the most unthinkable moments and occasions: a friend who knows how to "be there" both in crystal joy and in pain and in the loneliness of a hospital or an intensive care unit.
In the final moments, of loneliness and weakness, Chiara's presence becomes mysteriously silent, almost elusive, but precisely for that reason more authentic and destined to be a friendship "forever".
Chiara and Sara: unique, just as every story is unique.
