Translated automatically by AI from the Italian original.
“He had a different, deeper look in everything he did.” The words of Father Salvo Musso, spoken during the homily, describe Simon better than anything else: the boy of just 16 to whom Syracuse has now said its final goodbye. A ceremony heavy with grief and emotion, but also with affection, memories and the extraordinary vitality Simon had managed to convey in so little time.
The priest recalled his curious and enterprising character, his love of climbing and his passion for seeing the world from a different perspective. A gaze accompanied by a smile that was “sly, mischievous”, capable of generating sympathy, empathy and joy.
Gathered around the parents, Pio and Beatrice, were schoolmates, scouts, friends and fellow sports enthusiasts. So many people could not fit in the church and followed the ceremony from the square, among banners, messages and balloons.
Particularly moving was the letter read by a friend, who remembered Simon’s irresistible urge to joke and his human greatness: “With the memory, you can never be alone. Even if you go to heaven.”
Then, when the white coffin crossed the church threshold, the silence was broken by the roar of cross motorbikes. Ideally in the front row was his blue bike, a symbol of one of his greatest passions. The sound of the engines was joined by the applause of those present.
