David Franco Remembered

Today is the angelversary of a very dear friend of mine – David Franco. My loyal Listeners will know David’s name. He was a Guest, he was my producer, and he even sound engineered “Heart to Heart with Anna” episodes for 3 years. He was so much more than that though. David was a Heart Warrior. As a Heart Mom, I felt very maternally toward him, even though he was only 3 years my junior. Because we only lived about an hour-and-a-half away from one another, we had occasion to get together in person at times and I had the good fortune to meet his family, and he met mine. We talked on the telephone every single day, sometimes multiple times a day.

As mentioned above, David was a vital part of “Heart to Heart with Anna” and the HUG Podcast Network. Before he started helping me as a Producer and Sound Engineer, he had a podcast of his own — “Heart to Heart with Nicole and David” — which was short-lived due to the hosts’ constant medical problems. David understood our mission statement:

The mission of HUG is to empower, educate and enrich the lives of members of the congenital heart defect community.

https://www.hug-podcastnetwork.com/hug-strategic-plan.html

David was born in 1966 and he knew what it was like to feel vulnerable. He knew that education was power. It became his mission to help HUG as much as he could. He wanted to provide information, hope, and encouragement to the congenital heart defect community. He was a walking ambassador for HUG. He was a living-and-breathing testament to why what we do at Hearts Unite the Globe matters.

Today a friend sent me an article about the difference between grieving and mourning (pages 6-7). It seemed like something that was totally appropriate for today. Today I am mourning my dear friend, David Franco. Today I choose to remember him, to write about the positive impact he had on my life, and to allow myself some tears to cleanse my wounded heart. It hurts to lose those we love. There is an ache for things to be the way they were before our loved one passed. There is a wish for things to be different.

But they aren’t. Death makes us appreciate life. Death makes us aware of the fragility of life. Death points out the impermanence of our human bodies but death cannot cheat us out of the love that survives the loss. Death cannot erase the memories of those loved. Death cannot change the fact that the person who lived was important and made a lasting contribution.

David would be so happy to know that “Heart to Heart with Anna” has now recorded over 300 episodes! He would have been cheering when we hit 100,000 downloads. He would have been modest, but I think that deep down, he would have acknowledged that some of that success was due to his hard work.

As hard as it is going to be to get through today without using an entire box of tissues, I am going to work to think of David as the angel on my shoulder, the angel looking over me, the angel giving me the strength to carry on. He is no longer in pain. He can breathe, he can play basketball again, and his guitar. He is reunited with his brother Andrew and his father, plus so many Heart Friends who went before him. He is with Jesus. If there is anyone who would have been welcomed into the pearly gates, I know it was David. Happy angelversary, my dear friend. Thanks for the memories.