How far do you think a father’s love for his daughter can go? The bond that unites parents and children is considered by many to be the most powerful that exists, so much so that some say that the love that unites them is capable of transcending death, allowing them to continue communicating without the need of seeing or hearing each other.
How much truth is there to this statement, and how much fantasy? The truth is that there are events that escape any logical explanation that the human being knows. Beyond the credibility we give them and the faith we process, facts can only be understood from love, capable of changing our way of understanding the world and that of others.
Cristiano Ferrero was a beloved fruit vendor from one of the smallest and humblest neighborhoods in Albuera, Portugal. Ferrero was a humble person whose only goal in life was always to survive and help his family get ahead. A really complicated feat to accomplish considering that he was born and grew up in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the whole country, with a dangerously high rate of poverty and crime at that. His life was not easy, but that never stopped him from fighting for his dreams and being happy. The resilience and positivity of this man marked the course of his life and that of those who were lucky enough to know him. However, it would not be the acts that Cristiano did in life that lead us to write this story and tell you about him, but what he did once he had said goodbye to this world. A farewell that would come too early and with which this humble neighborhood greengrocer would give a great lesson of love to all.
But before we get to the end of his story, we must recapitulate a few years to better understand who Cristiano Ferrero was and how he made his life an unforgettable lesson of love. Also, if you have not done so already, please subscribe to our channel and click that notification bell to get inspired by these real-life stories every day.
Now, back to the story. As we explained at the beginning, Ferrero sold fruit from a small stall in the market of the city of Albuera. It wasn’t his dream job, but it allowed him to eat and have clean clothes to wear every day. Cristiano never felt inferior to anyone else for having to work so many hours for little pay.
On the contrary, he was grateful to have something to do and to be able to offer others the best fruit of each season to feed their families. It was at the market that Cristiano would meet what would become the love of his life and the future mother of his children, a young girl named Annabella, who brought pineapples to his stall every day. The girl, who at the time was 8 years younger than him, was also of humble origins and worked as a fruit picker in the fields with her family to earn a living.
However, despite the obvious age difference between them, which is why Annabella’s family did not look favorably on her new suitor and all the negative circumstances that surrounded him, the two were so much in love that they decided to ignore them and get married. They married only six months after they met to start their new life together as soon as possible. After the wedding, the happy couple went to live in a small house where, two years later, they would welcome their only daughter, a beautiful little girl named Natalia, an innocent little soul full of love and compassion that would end up becoming the center of their universe and later the true protagonist of our story.
The life of Cristiano and his little family of three was a happy one, although it was not without tragedy and difficulties that tested the family bonds and the love they felt for each other. The first major obstacle they had to face was the sudden death of his wife Annabella from a terrible traffic accident in which she died on the spot.
The city authorities were unable to catch the driver of the motorcycle who had fled after running over Mrs. Ferrero and leaving her to bleed to death on the asphalt. There were hundreds of witnesses, but they were all afraid of possible reprisals and refused to testify and provide any information that would help in the investigation. It was a tragedy that broke the hearts of Cristiano and his daughter Natalia, who was only 8 years old when her mother died, and they had to say goodbye to her in the cruelest way.
From that moment on, the bond between Natalia and her father grew stronger and stronger. Over the years, father and daughter were inseparable and unconditional support for each other. If something went wrong, together they struggled to overcome it and find a solution. If one of them was sad, the other would try to cheer them up and make them smile again. They were a team; together they felt invincible. But no one is invincible, and unfortunately, neither would they be.
Since the untimely death of his wife, Cristiano withdrew into himself, became much more reserved, and his usual cheerful character gradually disappeared. His only purpose in life was to take care of his little girl and make sure she grew up happy and healthy, two goals he was able to see fulfilled just before life struck him again with terrible news.
At the age of 45, Cristiano was diagnosed with a very rare terminal disease that would end his life in a short time and for which there was no treatment. “We’re sorry, Mr. Ferrero. You suffer from a strange neurodegenerative disease about which we hardly have any information. There have only been three other cases like yours, and unfortunately, in none of those diagnoses my colleagues managed to reverse the effects of the disease,” were the words the doctor told Cristiano and his daughter at the hospital after all kinds of tests and analyses were done.
“Is there nothing we can do to slow down the disease, doctor?” Natalia asked, frightened.
“Absolutely nothing. I could give him pills, but they would have no effect, and it would only lower your father’s defenses. I’m very sorry to have to tell you this, Miss Ferrero, but the only thing you can do for your father is to take care of him and be by his side until the end. He will need you,” the doctor answered with great regret.
From that moment on, Natalia would become her father’s greatest strength throughout his illness, which advanced at a very fast pace and began to deteriorate her father’s health rapidly. Every week it got worse and worse, and within a few months, Cristiano was no longer able to move on his own, being unable to even get out of his bed. As Cristiano’s health deteriorated, father and daughter felt closer. Unfortunately, the time to say goodbye was getting closer and closer, and that special bond that the two had forged over the years would eventually be broken, or maybe not.
Natalia stayed by her father’s side at all times until the end. Not even at night did she leave him alone and often stayed awake to make sure he was still breathing. Finally, as the doctors had warned her, her father died during the night in his bed, but not before saying goodbye to her, a farewell that would leave a lasting impact on the young woman and would mark a before and after in her life.
“You’ll stop seeing me, you’ll stop hearing me, maybe you’ll even forget what my voice sounded like, but I promise you that I will never leave, sweetheart. I will never leave your side. I want you to know that I am leaving this world happy, Natalia. I don’t want you to cry because even though I have to leave so soon, I do it with a heart full of love and gratitude.
You and your mother have been the greatest gift that life has given me. That is the only reason why I can leave peacefully. It only hurts me to know that I am leaving you alone. It terrifies me that you have no one to talk to or find comfort. Don’t close yourself off, my child. You must love and let yourself be loved. You are wonderful, and you deserve someone to take care of you and appreciate all the good things in you. Do you promise me? Promise me that you will never let life pass you by and that you’ll fight to be happy,” her father asked in a weak voice, his eyes misty with emotion.
“I promise you, Dad. I’ll always fight just like you taught me,” she replied through tears, holding her father’s hand. That night, Cristiano died, leaving his daughter’s heart broken by her loss. However, what would happen two days later during his funeral would leave everyone speechless and bring joy back to his daughter.
During her father’s funeral, Natalia tearfully embraced her father in the coffin, and to the amazement of those present, witnessed what she herself would describe as a miracle. Looking at her father’s face, limp and cold inside the coffin, Natalia could see a faint, impossible smile on his serene face. Natalia was paralyzed and had to look twice to verify that what she was seeing was not the fruit of her imagination and the deep pain she was feeling at that moment. Moreover, it was not only she who witnessed what just happened; all those who were there with her, saying goodbye to her father, also saw it and were just as shocked as she was.
“I love you too, Daddy. I’ll keep my promise. Wait for me up there and take care of Mom,” she whispered in her father’s ear in response to the inexplicable gesture her recently deceased father had just performed for her. This inexplicable event left an indelible mark on Natalia, becoming for her a symbol of the enduring love that existed between her and her adored father, even beyond the confines of life and death. The effect that death and farewell had on her life was so great that throughout her life, Natalia kept this extraordinary memory and took care to transform it into something that everyone could know and make a part of their life.
Natalia loved to write, and after the death of her father, she dedicated her life to writing novels, her debut novel being the most outstanding work of her collection and with which she paid tribute to her family and
to the bond of love that united her to her father beyond death. The work, entitled “The Eternal Smile,” in which she narrated her story and that of her family through a captivating fictional novel, became a bestseller in her country and a bestseller in Europe, managing to carry her father’s legacy everywhere and making him eternal through the written word. In this way, Natalia Ferrero carried her father’s love with her until her own peaceful passing, which did not occur until the writer reached 92 years of age and passed away peacefully at home from cancer. Her father’s smile never left her, and now, thanks to her and her words, it would accompany anyone who read them forever.
