That '85 Casio

That first day of school after the 1985 vacation will never be forgotten. Wearing the brand new Casio made me the most popular person in school for a day. Everyone wanted me to show it to them, to show them all its functions, to listen to its alarm and watch it turn on in its night mode.

It was water resistant to a depth of 50 meters, a feature that in my almost half century of life I have not been lucky enough to ever need, but that certainly made the difference between "my Casio" and all the other watches that might exist in my great little universe of life.

I tell this nostalgic anecdote in these days in which the Japanese brand has come to the fore following the mention of it by a famous singer in her song of spite against the ex-football player father of her children.

I admit that, at first, I also let myself be carried away by the morbid taste for sauciness by scrutinizing the lyrics, until a talk show host on a radio program made me wonder how what the song says would affect the couple's children now and in the future.

While those of us who have no emotional attachment enjoy the spectacle, like children at the playground fight, the punches and kicks really hurt; if not to the adults, who after all have taken advantage to monetize each blow, then to some children for whom the two most important people in their lives have become public enemies.

Parentscalled to teach their children, through their mutual respect and affection, what love is, become the worst possible examples of what it means. And without love, which is the greatest force in the universe, what is the meaning of this life?

In that year of 1985, I didn't know how much a Rolex cost, nor did I need to, but I was used to luxury: the luxury of having a father and a mother who, with their ups and downs, with their differences and agreements, even with their quarrels and arguments, respected each other deeply, gave each other, forgave each other?

In short: they loved each other.

In my house we were swimming in abundance, but not in money, because we were always just making ends meet, but in loyalty, understanding, generosity and even intergenerational solidarity, because grandma lived with us.

A mother-in-law at home is not always easy, but there was love there to smooth out the rough edges and to patiently bear with each other's shortcomings.

Seeing the current scenario, in which couples fall apart as fast as the millions of reproductions of the controversial video on Youtube, I am more and more convinced that the best legacy I can leave to my children is not measured in euros, because there are not enough euros to pay for it, and it is called the example of what love is.

Because, in what exclusive school or expensive university do they teach the most important of human potentialities? What prestigious laboratory can decipher the formula for the true source of happiness, which is love?

In that year of '85, my parents, who were neither musicians nor sports stars, composed, every day, with their simple lives, the best melody ever heard, the most beautiful verses ever heard, the most spectacular play.

I am the son of two world stars that no one knows, nor do I need to, because their legacy is not of this world; it is eternal, truly immortal, unattainable materially.

When I think of that Casio from 1985, I think of how little a child needs to become a happy adult. It is enough for him to know that love exists, that there is someone capable of giving his life for him, without expecting anything in return, and that in wars, even if they are only verbal, everyone loses. Thanks dad, thanks mom.