Dear Chaplain, staff from the Institute of Astronomy of the University of Cambridge, Churchill College staff, and all the friends of our beloved son Eduardo Juan Delgado Donate, we have come here today following the initiative of some friends of our son, who wanted us to participate in this ceremony in his memory.
We couldn’t refuse, because for Eduardo, in his own words, Cambridge was the place to touch the sky. He was even thinking of buying a house here, when he would have the means to do so. He never forgot Cambridge and used to pay frequent visits to remember the times he spent with his friends and colleagues in this wonderful city. We can never say enough about Eduardo. What can parents say after suddenly losing a son? For us, he was the light that illuminated our lives, and that of Alejandro (his brother) and of his grandparents and aunts and uncles.
We have received messages from all over the world describing his kindness and generosity and his love for his work, and that special quality that drew people to him. He was always ready to listen, and afterwards give his most sincere opinion. Always with the aim of helping others, adding his own grain of sand.
Eduardo suffered from anxiety. But he tried hard to overcome it by dancing tango, working with ceramics, going swimming and of course pursuing his passion for astrophysics. He was a great fighter and at the age of 29 he had everything he wanted. Of course he still had a long way to go, but he was working on that and was happily settled at the IAC (Instituto Astrofisico de Canarias). He had now found a new group of good friends and could count on the support of his dear advisor Casiana. She was very supportive from the start of his career in astrophyics, and encouraged him to apply to Cambridge for his PhD. We’d like to thank Casiana for her words in memory of Eduardo that were published in the press in Tenerife, and on the Internet. Also for her fond memories of Eduardo expressed in her tribute to the 3 colleagues from the IAC who also died in the accident in Los Silos: Juan Luis, Maurizio, and Eduardo.
We also want to remember, here, with all our love, the other victims: Javier Jesus, Gines, and his girlfriend Estefania. We take this opportunity to express our gratitude to Ms. Dixon for her very moving condolences and for her memories of Eduardo.
Dr Cathie Clarke supervised Eduardo’s PhD from 2000 to 2003 and they continued to work together until his death. Thank you Dr Clarke for your condolences that touched our hearts. We truly know how much Eduardo appreciated you. At home we heard your name and Dr Casiano’s name mentioned every day. Eduardo always pointed out your bright intelligence, your talent and most of all, your human values. Dr Clarke your happiness and positive energy really rubbed off on Eduardo, and gave him the motivation to achieve his dream and finish his PhD.
Although, his career in Astrophysics was short-lived, we hope that his work has contributed just a little to a better understanding of our grandiose Universe.
We want to give our most sincere thanks to all of Eduardo’s colleagues, all the friends from Cambridge, including a Canarian girl from Fuerteventura. Also to the friends from Stockholm Observatory, from Australia, Italy, France, and elsewhere that, through the internet, with letters and flowers, have remembered Eduardo with great love. Thank you everyone for making him so happy.
We especially want to remember those friends that were with us from the moment of his death, in the saddest days, giving us their constant support. To the family from La Florita, as Eduardo named them. They were his other family. Their daughter came from Sweden to attend the ceremonies held in memory of our son. We will never forget them and they will always be in our hearts.
We also want to mention Eduardo’s three friends who came to visit us in Tenerife from the States, Germany and Barcelona. With their spirit and youth they relieved our pain. Their positive energy strengthened us. Thank you beloved friends for giving so much happiness to our son.
We must mention a special friend who is in Chile now. They met when they studied physics together in the University of La Laguna. His recent constant calls of support and energy were very important for us. He was very far from Tenerife, but we felt that he was very close, linked by the pain. Thanks. Many thanks. Our love to his parents and wife. We hope you will be a happy father next September. Good Luck.
We want to remember with great love and gratitude all our friends from Tenerife, from all over the island, who were with us at all times. To the family from Candelaria, thank you for being here with us today. Also to our workmates for their support in those difficult times. Our most special love goes to our son Alejandro who was with us, with his brother, all that night and the following day. To both sides of the family: parents, uncles, aunts and cousins. Singling out the oldest for his strength, our father is 90 years old, and he came to join us for the ceremonies. Our mother and aunt could not come because of very serious health problems. They brought him up and we want them to keep thinking he’s alive.
All the condolences, from colleagues and friends, made us realise that our son Eduardo not only loved us, but also shared his love with all of them. He loved and was very loved, and that is very important for us, to keep on going forward. However, we know that we have a long way to go, and that we will always carry this immense sadness for our beloved son Eduardo. He was a very special person who will be with us in our memories forever.
Thank you all for coming. We will continue to visit Cambridge because this place is already part of our lives, and if God gives us health, we will return. We will never forget you, both colleagues and friends, who have been so close to Eduardo through thick and thin. For these reasons, we want you to know that for Guadalupe, Antonio, and for Alejandro and the rest of Eduardo’s family, all of you have a place in our hearts because you are wonderful people. We wish to finish with a few lines that Eduardo wrote last Christmas.
“Never stop looking for happiness. Even in the hardest of times in life, there are little things, very little things, that give us a reason to keep going on.”
Many thanks
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