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Blog 253 finished with these words.
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This is a photo of Mario. I first met Mario in 1997 when I started walking at Morialta. Although Mario was born in Australia, his father was born in Italy and interned as an “enemy alien” for the duration of WW2. Mario was the living embodiment of personal commitment.
I was blessed by having Mario as my friend.
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I was as proud of Mario as I am of my son Chris and my friend Alf.
Mario never wore any uniform but he was still a hero.
No one needs to wear a uniform to be a hero.
Everyone I have ever met is already a hero.
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Mario was born in Broken Hill, in New South Wales and his family lived in Broken Hill when his father was imprisoned as an enemy alien at Loveday in South Australia. The internment lasted for the duration of WW2.
Mario and his mother survived the war because of the kindness of their neighbours. The neighbours were sex workers who made sure the family had food to eat. The Australian government didn’t care what happened to Mario’s mother and her children.
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Mario was one of the bravest people I have ever met.
He had to leave school at age 14 and go out to work. By that stage, the war was over and his father had established a barber shop. Mario worked in his father’s barber shop until he established his own barber shop.
Mario was 55 when I first met him in 1997. He was far fitter than me even though at age 48, I was a lot younger than him.
Mario was never bad tempered.
He never felt sorry for himself and he never complained.
One of Mario’s eyes was made of glass. The original eye had been amputated by the surgeons because it was diseased.
Mario used to laugh about having only one eye.
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Ten years after I first met Mario, he contracted prostate cancer.
One of his kidneys was sacrificed to beat the cancer.
Mario never complained once. He only ever spoke factually about what was and what was not happening. He never descended into the Pit of Despair. He simply dealt with one problem at a time, with the multitude of issues involved in having cancer.
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In 2010, Mario was walking down one of the tracks at Morialta when he stumbled and started to run out of breath. He continued walking until we reached the car park and he even complained when we rang an ambulance. Mario had had a heart attack.
The ambulance took Mario to hospital so he could receive treatment for his heart attack.
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Mario still ran his barber shop until he finally disposed of it at age 76.
Although Mario was now officially retired, he still walked every week at Morialta.
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Mario had a strong sense of commitment to himself and to those around him. He was a good man.
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Mario’s prostate cancer came back early in 2023.
At that time, I was deep inside the Pit of Despair because Margaret was dying. I am sure I did not pay as much attention to Mario’s ill health as I should have – but I did have a genuine excuse.
Mario did not complain. He had commitment to himself and to those who loved and needed him.
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Even though he knew he was dying, Mario kept up his weekly walking at Morialta on Sundays.
The final time Mario walked at Morialta was on Sunday 24 November 2024.
Mario entered Mary Potter Hospice (a hospital for the terminally ill) on Monday 25 November 2024.
The cancer finally ended Mario’s life on Wednesday 11 December 2024.
As the cancer and the treatments kept weakening him, Mario was forced to shorten his Morialta walks, but he never quit living or walking – ever.
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When I talk about the need for you to have commitment to yourself and to others, I am thinking of the commitment shown by Mario.
On paper, there was no particular reason for him to resist death as vigorously as he did – but the theories set out on paper were irrelevant. Mario was true to himself. He displayed the same commitment to himself as he showed to those around him.
Be like Mario. Dig deep within yourself and find your commitment. Swing your leg over the side of the bed and put one foot in front of the other. Just do it.
Left foot.
Right foot.
Left foot.
Right foot.
You can do this because even though you never realised it before, you are indeed a HERO.
And I love you just as much as I loved and admired Mario.
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Tomorrow I will tell you about the physical things I did to make sure I got myself out of the Pit. I still do the same things because the Pit always beckons and it is so easy to simply fall straight back into it.
Some of the tools I use are yoga and meditation.
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