remarkable gift
treasured symbol of friendship
by Artist - riccardo girardi
“A remarkable expression of kindness i will cherish for a lifetime"
the story
The story begun while I was circulating the London Underground with my project ForwardTheSmile. It was part of my routine day to spend hours on the tube, entertaining people and spreading kindness along the way. On a late afternoon, Saturday 20 August 2011, I was coming out of Charing Cross Station and while walking through the tunnel to get to the escalator, I have locked an instant smile with a stranger walking opposite me.
Without hesitation we have both embraced each other and hugged in the middle of the tunnel with a multitude of strangers passing by. He has such a positive energy and a genuine smile that made me even more intrigued to speak to him. He immediately noticed the guitar strapped on my shoulder and that kick started the conversion of which I explained what my act of kindness project was all about. In any interaction I had with people, I always mentioned Jesus Christ as my Saviour and how he led me to this point in my life. As I continued to share a few highlights of my story, he hugged me and shared that he was a Christian too. At that moment I felt that Jesus Christ has led me to this person for a reason and the connection was not a coincidence. The stranger introduced himself as Sky and offered to walk with me outside the station to extend our conversation.
As we have approached Embankment Station, while deep in conversation sharing about our life stories, he suggested to cross over the bridge towards Southbank where he wanted to introduce me to a good friend of his. I did not hesitate to accept and as we continued walking on the approach to London Eye, I begun to hear a wonderful sound coming from a piano. He guided me up the stairs towards Westminster Bridge and behold the friend he wanted me to meet was the street piano man by the name of Fabio Tedde!
(Left) - Fabio Tedde | (Right) - Sky
(Left) - Fabio Tedde | (Right) - Me
I was captivated by the remarkable talent that Fabio had on the piano but more over on the impact of his melodies that reached right to your heart! He had such a warm pleasant personality and instantly embraced me with a kind hug. I realised that what appeared to be a random acquaintance was in fact a guided path that Jesus Christ created for me to meet two wonderful people. As Fabio continued to play his piano in the late summer evening, while overlooking the London eye with all the colourful reflections of its lights on the river surface, I was mesmerised with his incredible gift. He was blessed with such an amazing talent and as we begun to share our stories, I begun to realise even more what a special person Fabio was. He had such an outreaching heart to share his gift, kindness and love with all people unconditionally, referring to himself as a "Pianist without borders". Alongside playing his music on the tube, his biggest passion was to travel around the world playing all the pianos installed across the various cities - part of the "Play Me, I'm Yours" artwork by British artist Luke Jerram.
Do what you love, follow your heart and share your gift, I love you all.
Fabio Tedde's: Facebook Social Message
My friendship with Fabio had a special connection as I could see that we shared a lot in common in our pursue of living our lives to fulfil God's purpose. Our friendship grew over the years as we followed each others journey and encouraged one another. On the Saturday 03rd May 2014, Fabio invited me to join him at our mutual dear friend's house by the name of Yvonne Newman. Yvonne was another special person I met through Johnny, at Allilon Education with our Project Aces, as she was running a charity called Vital to help the street children in India - Allilon Education was helping to fund raise for them. Fabio was also later introduced to Yvonne as she also had a huge passion for organising piano recitals! The friendships grew and we had established a wonderful connection of people with a passion for helping others!
As I have arrived at Yvonne's house, Fabio introduced me to a friend of his by the name of Riccardo Girardi. A truly wonderful, humble and kind person but also a phenomenal artist. It was then that Fabio suddenly revealed that they had a surprise for me. Fabio told Riccardo about my project and life story and he presented me with an incredible breathtaking gift. He spent 10 hours with just a pen and pencil replicating my photo image I use on my cards with ForwardtheSmile - the shot that Sean Conway took for me back in 2010. I was simply blown away with his remarkable act of kindness and have embraced him with the strongest hug to express how deeply touched and thankful I was. I could not believe my eyes as I looked at his masterpiece and tried to comprehend that this was not a photo but simply an exact replica made by pen and pencil. I will forever treasure this gift and I have no words to express my gratitude to Riccardo Girardi. A priceless memory and affirmation of a friendship that I am so grateful to Jesus Christ for bringing me to meet such incredible people in my life.
art Masterpiece - 10 Hours (Pen & Pencil only)
Original Photo - By Sean Conway (2010)
Replica with Pen & Pencil - By Riccardo Girardi (2014)
(Left) - Me | (Middle) - Fabio Tedde | (Right) - Riccardo Girardi
Riccardo & Fabio wrote a message for me and placed it inside the sealed photo frame. To this day...I still don't know what the message is.
MESSAGE FROM - riccardo girardi
