Mother Elena took care of making the dream of her son Giovanni , the 28-year-old from San Teodoro who passed away prematurely last July, come true. Where there was uncultivated land next to the church of Santa Teresa di Calcutta, Giovanni Lai had imagined a large outdoor nativity scene next to an old stable, a more elaborate version of that Bethlehem manger that, every year, the young enthusiast of nativity scenes, he made with his own hands in front of his grandparents' house.
Giovanni was unable to give life to that dream but today, thanks to the tenacity of his mother, Elena Piu, in the heart of the historic center of San Teodoro there is the beautiful Gio' Nativity Scene , open to visitors since yesterday, illuminated and cared for in every minimum detail. The owners gave their approval to the use of the land and, thanks to the birth of a spontaneous committee proposed by Nadia Meloni, a friend of the Lai Piu family, dozens of volunteers contributed to the realization of the work, working every day to weeks until the evocative inauguration last night.
The collaboration of the municipal administration, the Parish, the White Cross and above all the association Centro Commerciale Naturale Live Teo D'Oro was fundamental, which gave economic and organizational support to the works, as the President, Angela Salis, explains: «We traders we are always very present at the events of the country and in agreement with the members we decided to contribute to the expenses and from there the whole organizational machine was set in motion. Personally, I was pleased to help the mother Elena process her grief by making her son's dream come true. We worked on a project in memory of a very well-known and loved boy and his passing has greatly affected our community ."
The big heart of San Teodoro did the rest, transforming the pain of loss into love and the absence of Giovanni into the presence of dozens of people who dedicated their time and professionalism to Gio''s nativity scene. A small popular mobilization also supported by the parish priest Don Alessandro Cossu who, on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the first nativity scene created by Saint Francis of Assisi, invited the faithful to pray to obtain the plenary indulgence that the Holy See has decided to grant grant to all those who pray in front of a nativity scene. It was Don Cossu himself who gave the blessing to the new work in via dei Gerani last night, remembering the young man with affection: «Thanks to Giovanni today San Teodoro has a wonderful outdoor nativity scene. Without realizing it, he inspired this beautiful project which gave life to a testimony of faith that the whole country can contemplate."
