From the moment that I joined Commerzbank and met Alberto, I was motivated by his energy and positive outlook. He was one of the individuals that interviewed me for the job and he became my colleague, friend and recently, my boss and mentor. Although not in London anymore, we talked and communicated most days and I was always slightly worried that his emails would start around 5am London time. He asked my opinion on everything and trusted me when it was needed. For this, it made working with and for Alberto, an easy task. In late 2019, I was delighted to show him parts of Asia and act as a travel guide given this was his first time east of Moscow (I think). We managed to get him around Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore and back to London with a bright promise that he would return in early 2020. During his November 2019 trip, we had a fancy formal dinner in Shanghai with team members and ate the local seasonal delicacy of hairy crabs at a wonderful old city restaurant. Both he and I agreed secretly afterwards that the hairy crabs were the most terrible tasting item ever plucked from the sea but, at all times during the dinner, he was the most courteous, funny and pleasant host; a true testimony to his diplomatic, thoughtful and caring character. People will talk about him being good at his job but he was great at being a person and that is not easy.
I will give myself a little time to grieve but I don’t believe Alberto would have wanted too much. I still don’t believe that he has gone - only that he is on holiday or has switched off his phone for a while. And that makes it easier.
"God speaks to each of us as he makes us,
then walks with us silently out of the night.
These are the words we dimly hear:
You, sent out beyond your recall,
go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me.
Flare up like a flame
and make big shadows I can move in.
Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.
Don’t let yourself lose me.
Nearby is the country they call life.
You will know it by its seriousness.
Give me your hand."
From the moment that I joined Commerzbank and met Alberto, I was motivated by his energy and positive outlook. He was one of the individuals that interviewed me for the job and he became my colleague, friend and recently, my boss and mentor. Although not in London anymore, we talked and communicated most days and I was always slightly worried that his emails would start around 5am London time. He asked my opinion on everything and trusted me when it was needed. For this, it made working with and for Alberto, an easy task. In late 2019, I was delighted to show him parts of Asia and act as a travel guide given this was his first time east of Moscow (I think). We managed to get him around Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore and back to London with a bright promise that he would return in early 2020. During his November 2019 trip, we had a fancy formal dinner in Shanghai with team members and ate the local seasonal delicacy of hairy crabs at a wonderful old city restaurant. Both he and I agreed secretly afterwards that the hairy crabs were the most terrible tasting item ever plucked from the sea but, at all times during the dinner, he was the most courteous, funny and pleasant host; a true testimony to his diplomatic, thoughtful and caring character. People will talk about him being good at his job but he was great at being a person and that is not easy.
I will give myself a little time to grieve but I don’t believe Alberto would have wanted too much. I still don’t believe that he has gone - only that he is on holiday or has switched off his phone for a while. And that makes it easier.
"God speaks to each of us as he makes us,
then walks with us silently out of the night.
These are the words we dimly hear:
You, sent out beyond your recall,
go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me.
Flare up like a flame
and make big shadows I can move in.
Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.
Don’t let yourself lose me.
Nearby is the country they call life.
You will know it by its seriousness.
Give me your hand."
