A friend of mine once said: “If you can’t find the words, maybe there’s nothing left to say.” He’s dead now too.
There have been enough words written, I think, about MTVM and Gian that I can’t possibly add to in any meaningful way, but I will. This issue was my idea and then I went away and Mila handled it for me, and for that (and so much more) I am forever grateful. Mila, I love you. I wrote about Gian and read about Gian and thought about Gian and I miss Gian. He was supposed to marry us in Sezze, at the Villa DiTrapano, with Giuseppe as the flower girl. But he didn’t. He died. We got married by my friend Bobby in a Redwood Grove in Davis, California on April 17th, 2021.
The guidelines for this issue were: either write something about Gian or write something he would have liked to read. I organized it because I wanted something bigger than our collected grief. I wanted to outshine it. I won’t be the judge of it. I didn’t even read these pieces. I just hoped that in putting it together, some of us could have the possibility of feeling something more than sadness.
I want to thank the MTVM alumni for spilling their hearts and guts. I want to thank Giacomo for his time and patience. I want to thank Chelsea for inviting me to Italy and for the hospitality and friendship. And I want to thank Mila, the love of my life, for stepping up when I was down.
Although she says: “But what can be done, the one who loves must share the fate of the one he loves.” The Master and Margarita.
Rotgut. Buckshot. Tattoos of tombstones.
I hope this doesn’t sound like a eulogy.
– Cory Bennet
Giancarlo DiTrapano, 1974-2021