Since the loss of my father last October left a huge void not only in the hearts of our entire family but also in the many Ticinese who have gathered around us in his memory, there is a thought that accompanies me and, if possible, increases my pain.
I have in fact felt, with feeling and reason, the incontrovertible fact that with his disappearance, with that of my uncle Sergio, and of other much loved and popular women and men, a generation of extraordinary personalities is unfortunately disappearing who with courage, tenacity, desire to do and passion have given us this Ticino that we are too often accustomed to considering a good and a right definitively acquired.
The duty of memory is a fundamental premise for the construction and preservation of one's identity. Memory not only as a legacy of past experiences, but as an active element that shapes our way of perceiving the world and ourselves. Through memories, we build personal narratives that give meaning to our actions and decisions.
Collective memory also connects individuals to communities, allowing traditions and values to be kept alive. Ignoring the past means giving up a part of who we are: in this sense, remembering then becomes an act of responsibility towards ourselves and future generations.
These reflections have led me, together with the drafting of Ticino Welcome, to take the decision to create a new section of the magazine where, starting from this edition, some interviews with leading figures in politics, economics, culture and life in Ticino will be published.
Precious testimonies, deeply felt and shared, to remember by drawing on one's own personal experience the direct knowledge, and more often the bonds of friendship with my father. But, at the same time, a story often unpublished about what Ticino was and how it has transformed thanks also to the contribution of those who wanted and knew how to put in the foreground the passion, the courage, the love for this wonderful land.
The fresco that emerges from these contributions is an invitation to take back into our hands, with the same spirit of initiative, vision and desire to build together, the challenging moral legacy that our fathers have left us.
