Let’s meet at the Sugar Café.

Buongiorno, Giovanni. . . . Buongiorno, my friend.

If Giovanni Garbugli was at his café when you arrived, he might be the waiter who brought out your order of coffee, pastries, and salami, with a light in his eyes and Italian bow shape to his smile. Or if Giovanni had arranged the long table and menu for students or faculty in the side alley, he would come out as wine sommelier and teacher of Italian cuisine and culture, his hands moving like a fluid art form.

The news of Giovanni Garbugli’s sudden death last week, just short of turning 63, hit hard for some American journalism teachers who had come to Sugar Café, which he co-owned in Urbino, Italy. He was their first source for stories, information and refreshment, year after year.

They came to Urbino to teach the four-week spring-term class for ieiMedia. Sugar Café was a good place to meet, for faculty or their dozens of American students. Garbugli was a good source, and a few times, the subject of a story.

He also organized some farewell parties for ieiMedia, such as the magical night at a beach in Rimini when he brought the dessert, taught students beach bocce, and thought he lost his keys in the sand as a full moon rose over of the dark Adriatic.

Giovanni Garbugli died suddenly while bicycling with friends on Mt. Catria. The news in Corriere Adriatico says he died of a sudden illness, a shock for such a lively and athletic man. His funeral was August 14 at the church in his hometown of Canavaccio.

We know we will all go, and take nothing. But what do we leave behind?

The ieiMedia faculty felt deeply what Giovanni left behind, and expressed it on shared posts.

It’s so hard to believe he is gone. An incredible and shocking loss, but how wonderfully lucky were we to have known him!! . . .Such a terrible loss. His joyfulness, kindness, and generosity made our experience in Urbino magical.

One professor, Barry Janes, quickly created a video tribute to put on YouTube.

Italian friends filled Facebook with their own love for the man: Ciao Giovanni!!! Dolore immenso! Ricorderò la professionalità che mi ha sempre dimostrato in occasione degli eventi che abbiamo organizzato insieme !!! Buon viaggio!!!. . . Anima buona.

We are strangers to one another, and even to ourselves. What we leave is only the sort of kindness and welcome that Giovanni offered for so many, and with such vitality. It also seems that, as in all the sacred stories of old, it came together always around the common table of food and drink.