A goodbye never said

Prologue

For my beloved grandpa, whose love and laughter will always be with me. Thank you for the memories and the lessons that shape my heart

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Imagine a family of three, a mother, a father, and a 5 year old girl.

They lived happily in their house with a dog they'd adopted. They were loved by everyone, their friends, their family, and everyone around them. The daughter went to kindergarten and got many friends, the dad worked hard as the owner of his painting crew, painting the most luxurious buildings ever existed. The mom worked at an old man's house, as a helper because the man was on a wheelchair.

Their life seems perfect from the outside. A healthy family with everything they need, money, a house, a dog, alive grandparents from both sides....

you wouldn't expect there to be a problem, right?

you wouldn't expect that those parents didn't get paid enough money,

you wouldn't expect that they'd later have no money to even buy food so the grandparents would have to pay for everything.

you wouldn't expect this family losing their house, going bankrupt and having to move to the other side of europe

and the daughter of course, was too young to know about this, so what do you think the parents did? Do you think they told her even the minimal details of what's happening? Do you think they told her that they're moving away from grandma and grandpa and everything she loves, possibly forever?

no, they didn't

they gaslit this poor little girl into 'going to vacation just to see if we like it' so she didn't even say proper goodbye to her poor grandparents.

'why are you crying mama?' the little girl asked her mom, ' these are tears of happiness honey' the mom said

the little girl looked at her mom and said:

'Are we moving away forever?'

The mom wiped off some tears and looked back at her little girl.

'no, honey, we're just going on a little vacation, nothing's gonna change'

'You promise?' asked the little girl, she was scared of going away.

'yes, i promise honey' the mom said

funny how adults all lie to you, right?

this poor little girl didn't even properly say goodbye to her grandpa before he passed a year after, she'd only talked to him in the phone, where he promised her that his cancer would heal, that he'd be alright when she came back, he promised her that they would go to the park and that he'd buy her a croissant, like they always did.

empty promises

the girl thought when she heard her grandma on the phone, telling her that grandpa is gone. She had cried so much that night in the car, on their way to italy, when she found out it wasn't just an early vacation but a funeral, her first ever funeral

She'd never expected it to be his funeral, she would have accepted anyone but grandpa.

He looked like a complete stranger, as he was laying there, peaceful in the middle of grandma's and no longer his hallway.

He'd always smiled at her when he saw her, but not this time.

he's gone forever now, he's not here anymore.

She was only six years old when she sat in that catholic church, as she realized that grandpa's gone, and she will never ever see him smile or talk to her, she will never be able to go to the park with him again.

Where was her best friend?

Gone, forever.

Six years old yet, she was able to cry at that funeral. She felt the emotion of losing someone you love at the age of six years old.

And it was then, that the little girl realised, that her mom had lied to her that day in the moving van, when she said 'no, honey, nothing's gonna change' because everything had already changed, and nothing was ever going to be the same.

Now imagine being this little girl.

Moving to the other side of europe just to find out less than a year later that your grandpa, your best friend, is gone forever

But what if all of this is real? What if it isn't just a story?

I'm asking you that because it is real.

And I am the little girl.

And my name, is Melissa Romano