Rosary for Matteo

Last Friday I went to Sacramento alone. I met up with Kevin when I got there and we shared a rental car. As luck would have it, we met Flora's friend Cindy who was staying in the same hotel. So the 3 of us spent a lot of time together talking and crying. It was very nice to see old friends.

I went to the rosary with Kevin. The biggest shock happened when we walked in and I was waiting to sign the condolences book - Matteo's father Gill walked over and thanked me for coming. I couldn't believe he was there, I felt he had no right to be there. Throughout the rosary he was quiet but did not look distraught, I never saw him cry or show any real emotion. Flora looked as you might have expected; totally devastated. She would compose herself and then breakdown. When I first spoke with her I could hardly speak for tears so we just hugged. I still cannot image how she is feeling or coping, I have been pretty distraught all week myself and I'm not even a mother. After crying with her I managed to spit out that if she needed anything or just wanted to call she could anytime. She then cried that sometimes it was really hard. It was so upsetting to see her pain and the hell she was enduring. I was helpless and wanted to think of something to say but I couldn't, what can you say? There was a line that led from Flora on to Gill so you could give your condolences to him. I went and sat back in a pew as I did not want to speak to him, let alone have him hug me...which he was doing to everyone in line. Later Kevin told me that he has asked him what happened, because at that time, things were still a little unclear; Matteo died in Gill's care, he didn't call an ambulance, he took 5 hours to call Flora. From the pew I could see that familiar calm Gill attitude and hand gestures, it sickened me. Kevin looked as if he was trying to get something of substance out of him, but Gill was in full acting mode. He showed no remorse. He had accepted what had happened and was going along with the grieving party that the Tassone family had planned.

We left the funeral home and went for dinner. I hadn't wanted to go as I didn't want to intrude on an event that was not my religion and a very personal private thing. Afterwards I was please I went to show support for Flora. I also found it very comforting, the priest had a very nice calming voice, and you could just tell he had a very nice soul, I was shocked at the warmth I felt from his voice. Later I found out he was Matteo's favorite teacher.