17 | July | 2012 | COALITION OF POSITIVE ENERGY

How can you write something about someone who you didn’t even know, especially when their souls have gone back to spirit?

A few weeks ago, a friend came into work and began to share her story about how her best friend’s son had passed away. She held back tears and was visibly upset. She explained how this young man – David Italiano – went on a trip to Cuba to celebrate another friends decision to move to Mexico with his father. It was a vacation and farewell they would never forget. During a scuba diving outing – there was an accident and David’s life was taken from this world. My co-worker described David and what type of young man he was – she talked about how nice and compassionate he was and mentioned his smile. The more she spoke of him – I couldn’t help but think of myself as young man and how much I lacked the confidence David had at that age. Had we been the same age, I know we would have definitely become friends because we had many similar interests.

Whenever we lose someone in our lives – especially at such a young age, we can’t help ourselves but think about what type of person they would have grown to become? What would their triumphs be? What would they accomplish? I thought of David and I thought about those exact things and knew that from what his friends and family wrote on his ‘tribute wall’ (www.daviditaliano.com) that he would have been a great success in whatever he did. From what I can determine – he was loyal, giving, loving, respectful, caring, happy, dedicated and confident. He seemed to know what he wanted from life. He was passionate about animals and I am assuming this was a contributing factor on his becoming vegetarian. He was also passionate about the environment and was an active volunteer with Greenpeace. I felt a connection with him through what his family and friends remembered or shared about him…..I felt like we were kindred spirits – his Facebook had a quote from one of my favourite songs (The Smiths – How Soon Is Now).

I could not hold my emotions back as I read some of the words people left on David’s tribute wall, things like; “he was absolutely and genuinely one of the kindest people I have met in my lifetime”, “Davey’s life has proven to me once again that the only reason to live is to love”, “he was such an amazing person with a heart of gold”, “the world needs more good people like him”, “a bright light has gone out but he did leave a warm glow”. Yes – the world does need more good people like him and yes a bright light has gone out but we can ensure that David’s glow lives on through all of us whether you knew David or not! We need to ensure that his light continues to shimmer strong and bright and that the love he shared for his friends, his family, the animals and the environment is not forgotten. We need to honour his memory by allowing his life’s passions to live on through us – I did not know him but I do know that people thought he was kind, compassionate, caring and respectful – for me, that is enough to allow David’s life to continue on through me.

I hope that the pain David’s family and friends are feeling will ease with time and I hope they find some comfort knowing that he has touched the lives of so many who knew and loved him and others that did not know him at all!!! Keep his memory alive, keep his passion alive and never forget that infectious smile!