BOLZANO. More than twenty years have passed since that tragic 27 April 2003, in which four young people from Bolzano lost their lives in a road accident on the A22.
A mourning that shocked the entire city, and in particular the Don Bosco neighborhood, where that group of friends had grown up who “didn’t make a hundred years in four”, using the words of Elena Mora, mother of Alessandro Altafini, who died at 19 years with the same age Alessandro Pastorello, the 17 year old Nadia Mattei and Andrea Grande, 21 years old. Lives broken too soon that left a huge void in their families and throughout the community.
How do you overcome such great pain? For Alessandro’s mother, Elena Mora, writing was “salvation”. He began putting pen to paper in 2003 and has never stopped since, on a journey of pain and rebirth that he shared with anyone who could find comfort in his words.
His third book, “C’era una volta” (published by AltroMondo, 16 euros, 208 pages), was recently released. An autobiographical story that delves into the author’s life, between mourning and redemption. The presentation will take place on January 21st at 5.30 pm at the Lovera center, in viale Europa 3.
Writing as salvation
Elena Mora began writing immediately after Alessandro’s death. «It was a way to keep in touch with him – he says – I wrote him a letter every day. Banal things: what happened during the day, my thoughts, memories.”
After having collected hundreds of these letters, he decided to transform them into a book “Letters to a Star”, published in 2006 by the Curcu&Genovese publishing house. «I went to talk to the publishers telling my story, what had happened to my son and his friends. Being a publishing house from Bolzano, they immediately welcomed my idea with affection, especially to remember those four boys from Don Bosco who died very young.”
The release of the first book marked a decisive step: Elena Mora’s words, as a mother who experienced the loss of a child, reached many other parents forced to face the same pain as her. «I got closer to other mothers, we met, we talked and we kept in touch thanks to my social pages».
A few years later, the second book “Beyond the Rainbow, Answers from Heaven” arrived: a mystical and spiritual continuation of conversations with that star. «Pages in which I imagined my son’s responses to my many letters», and in which, she explains, she “discussed” with those who, up there, had taken such a large part away from her. «After this book I took a break – continues Elena Mora – Years in which I read a lot, but in which I needed peace of mind. Until I decided to work on my third book.”
Once upon a time
The latest book, “Once upon a time”, sums up a life marked by pain, «but also by so much happiness», sighs Elena Mora. On the cover there is an illustration of a woman on a mountain path. «For me the journey was a mystical journey that brought me closer to a spiritual dimension – she says – I have always been a very Catholic person, but the pain of my son’s death distanced me from the faith. I found it in the mountains.”
Walking, like writing, have been his faithful allies over the years. But there is much more in the book: «As a girl born in Bolzano in 1956, I tell the story of my childhood in Shanghai – explains the author – of how I saw the city change. Of the people and places I met. As a girl I studied accounting, I wanted to study classics but I didn’t like Latin. After graduating, I immediately started working to help my family. In the 70s I was employed in a television company, then in another company, and finally I worked in a furniture company in via Druso. In the book I talk about these years, the birth of my two sons, Alessandro and Marco, with the adolescence of the eldest, between the struggle with his studies, he also studied accountancy, house music, friends and the neighborhood, Don Bosco , where our family grew up.”
The story of a life, «of which I am very proud – she smiles – Despite all the misfortunes that have marked my family since I was a child, I feel that I am a happy person». The book is dedicated to his son Marco: a beacon in this path of rebirth. «Everything I wrote was born out of necessity, and it helped me enormously. I advise young people today to read a lot.”