- The Guardian
- Issue #2078
Dear Editor,
Thank you for printing an obituary to my grandfather Savvas Lioupas in your recent issue.
My pappou was a special, wise and determined strong man whose passion and fight for life was nothing short of inspiring. For the 18 years I spent with him, I idolised his massive heart that never stopped giving, his warrior-minded mentality that never stopped fighting, and his wisdom that never stopped telling.
He was our solid rock that couldn’t be broken. From his tough upbringing, to his migration to Australia, pappou’s history encapsulated his courage and tenacity that he kept all the way through till the very end. In the endless days and nights of his stories that I wish I could hear one more time, he would sit across from me in the lounge room, or next to the warmth of the fire outside the back with a packet of Manchester reds and a Heineken, and he would describe the sacrifice and toughest moments of his life in the best broken English and Greek conversation we could’ve possibly had, and I would sit there and think how lucky I was to have this man as my pappou.
It wasn’t only his grit and dedication that made pappou the man he was, it was also the heart and pure care he had for everyone but himself, something I’ll cherish for eternity. Always putting others before himself when really he was the one in need showed his selfless nature. The pappou I saw when he became a full-time carer for my yiayia at 78 years old was only a small showcase of how much he had to give. No one else cared more than this man and I’ll be forever grateful to have been lucky enough to fall under his care.
The fight he pursued until my yiayia’s [grandmother] last day, all the way until his last day, really captured one of his most important traits, a fighter till the very end for what he believed in and for what was right. I love you pappou, may you now rest in peace, but always fighting.
Xavier Tocchetto
