Lanre Briggs

Lionel Messi’s letter for his father. ❤️‍🩹 Dad, I still can’t believe that you’ve gone. I don’t fall, or rather, I don’t want to fall. It’s very hard for me to imagine that I’m not going to see you anymore, that we’re not going to talk anymore. I know you were suffering and that it’s for the best, but you left too soon. We still had a lot left to enjoy together. You asked me so much to play in the last World Cup, and it was in the days just before it started that you got the worst. It was the first time you weren’t going to be at a tournament, but Mom told me that you were going to get better and that you’d be well enough to travel. I told you we were going to reach the final so you could travel. Every time a match ended I waited for and missed your message. That’s when I realized the situation was really bad. Even so, I didn’t stop thinking about going as far as possible, to buy you time and so you could see a match. We reached the final and you couldn’t be there. I wanted to win it to bring it to you and show you a new one. I couldn’t; my legs wouldn’t give any more. This time I tried to go against my body, but I couldn’t. I never managed to feel good. When I arrived you thought we had lost the final on penalties. We couldn’t talk about any of everything that happened. You couldn’t enjoy anything. We weren’t champions, but you have no idea how much we enjoyed every single match. Once again, you were right: I had to be there and play it. I’m telling you this because it was the only thing we couldn’t talk about, since you already know everything else. We talked every day and saw each other whenever we could, given my commitments.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ I don’t know what I’m going to do without you, I don’t know how to go on. I only played football and now I have quite a few doubts about whether I’ll keep doing it for much longer. You were by my side from the beginning; there was so little left until the end. Why couldn’t you hold on that little bit more so we could finish together? I know your happiness was seeing your family well, your wife, your children, and above all, without the others finding out, watching me play… It was always like that since I was little. You would take me to all the training sessions as soon as you got home from work. For many of them Mum took me because you were working. Obviously you never missed a single match. How you suffered watching me and how you enjoyed it, even though you never gave me many compliments. You were dad, friend and representative. You were always the person you needed to be in every moment and you never got anything wrong. Beyond a few reproaches or arguments, you were always right. In the end it always turned out the way you said. I’m going to miss you a lot, but you’ll always be present, and especially in the upbringing of my children, because I teach them and raise them the way you both did with me. Rest in peace and look after us from above the way you did down here. Thank you for everything. I love you, Dad. ❤️

❤️‍🩹🇦🇷 Leo Messi: “Dad, you kept asking me to play in one last World Cup… just days before it began was when your condition got worse”. “It was the first time you weren’t going to be there with me at tournament… but Mom kept telling me you were going to get better and that you’d be well enough to travel”. “I kept telling you we were going to reach the World Cup final so you could make the trip, this was my mission once again”. “After every match, I waited for and missed your message. That’s when I realized how serious the situation really was”. “I couldn’t stop thinking about going as far as possible, give you more time and the chance to watch one of the games”. “We reached the final, but you couldn’t be there. I wanted to win it so I could bring the trophy to you and show you another one. I couldn’t”. “My legs just couldn’t give me any more”. “This time I tried to push beyond what my body could handle, but I couldn’t”. “I never managed to feel physically right”. “We didn’t become champions Dad, but you have no idea how much we enjoyed every match. Once again, you were right: I had to be there and play in it… as you told me, always”.