Lina Frangié Wagner and Thomas Ischer, her faithful guide and friend, are continuing their hike in the white light of paradise. The angels are singing for them, God has welcomed them.

Lina was Lebanese by DNA and international by vocation. Gstaad was her shelter. When Lina was eight years old and her sister Libana ten, they were uprooted to escape the dangers of civil war. For the two sisters and their brother Tony, Switzerland became their second home.

After a BA in Philosophy, Lina graduated in management and worked in banking. However, through her Swiss-Lebanese culture and travels, art became her greatest passion. Her first exhibition was in 2002. She was also involved in charity work with Libana, like the Theodora Foundation and Action Innocence, where her unique collages and panneaux décoratifs were auctioned. As a member of The Order of Malta, she was involved in their charitable work and assisted in the pilgrimage to Lourdes, ministering to the sick and disabled.

On the day of the requiem the catholic church of Gstaad was packed. Some people outside the church could not even get in. The entire community came to show their deepest condolences, from Marcel Bach to Gianni Biggi and Mario, the chansonnier of the Olden. Members of the rescue team also paid their last respects to Lina. Family members – her nephew, her husband, and her brother – held beautiful speeches.

Fate can change everybody’s life in the blink of an eye. Everybody who does a little off-piste knows about the risk. Everybody knows and accepts it. It’s a kind of addiction, an addiction to the beauty of nature and the silence within the soul.

I met Lina at the Coop a few days before the accident. She had just arrived and was doing her grocery shopping. She said: “Let’s do some powder together. Call me…”. I did not. Was I lucky? No, lucky is the person who does what she loves deeply. Lina and Thomas did this. With great passion.

There are no words for the loss of the loved ones. The Persian poet Hafiz tried: “When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you’re the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.”

Januaria Piromallo