“My wife asked me to die together.” Lino Banfi didn’t hold back the emotion. It happens to him every time he talks about his beloved Lucy, always by his side for over 60 years. Discreet and indispensable presence. With bright eyes, the Apulian actor revealed one poignant episode in connection with his wife’s illness, who has been suffering from Alzheimer’s for some time, as the “grandfather of Italy” himself said on other occasions. “Ours is a strong love, it lasted a long time and we need each other,” Lino admitted during the interview with Verissimo on Canale5. Then the most touching and private anecdote.
“My wife said to me, ‘We can’t find the system die togetherwho two of us? If you die first I can’t resist and the same is the opposite,'” revealed Banfi, managing to move even the presenter Silvia Toffanin and the audience in the studio. “A lot of great couples didn’t actually resist for long: they have those Existence together and even survived death. See Sandra and Raimondo, that’s exactly what happened,” the actor continued, reaffirming the indissoluble bond with his Lucia.
Lino had recently spoken of his beloved wife Pope Francis, during a private audience at the Vatican. “When we talked about my wife, her face changed,” the actor said on Rai1. And again he added: “We had 60 years of marriage and my wife said to me: ‘Since you are going to the Pope who is closest to Jesus, pray to him when he lets us die together’.” He was almost touched and answered : ‘I would have liked to be able to do it, but you have to live long'”.
On the basis of this special relationship, the actor lived emotion also to Verissimo. He quoted a Spanish song and underlined one passage in particular: “You who taught me so many things in life, why didn’t you teach me how to live without you?”. And the voice cracked with emotion. Finally, the actor added, “There is no recipe for a relationship this long, the recipe is building a home together with sacrifice and suffering. That’s why when a couple like ours breaks up, walking away is like tearing a photo in half that doesn’t fit anymore.”