Throughout his life, Pier Giorgio had many female friends. There was one who was most special to him -- Miss Laura Hidalgo. She could not be called his girlfriend because Pier Giorgio did not formally date her. The customs of those days were much different than today and Pier Giorgio, being from an affluent family with high social standing, first sought the approval of his family before beginning a relationship with the young woman.
From his letters and the writings of his sister Luciana, there is evidence that Pier Giorgio was strongly in love with Laura. However, he was aware that his parents would not consider Laura a possible match for him. Most likely, this was because Laura was not of the same social status as the Frassati family. At the time that Pier Giorgio was interested in Laura, the relationship between his parents was very strained and on the verge of separation. Pier Giorgio thought it made no sense to try to build his relationship with Laura on the ruin of his parents' marriage. It should be noted that Mr. and Mrs. Frassati were not at all aware of Pier Giorgio's love for Laura.
On December 18, 1924, Luciana wrote a letter to her fiancé in which she mentioned Pier Giorgio's situation: "Yesterday evening he came to me with his great black eyes and told me he was in love with a girl I know..." This was the first anyone in the family discovered his feelings.
When Pier Giorgio made the very painful decision to sacrifice his love for Laura and not pursue the relationship, he was heartbroken. On December 28, 1924, Pier Giorgio wrote about his heartache to his friend Isidoro Bonini:
"I am reading the novel by Italo Mario Angeloni, Ho Amato Cosi, in which he writes in the first part about his love for an Andalusian woman, and, believe me, I feel a lot because it is like the story of my love. I too have loved like that, only in the novel it is the Andalusian girl who makes the sacrifice, whereas in my case I will be sacrificed, because that is what God wills."
More about Pier Giorgio's love for Laura can be read in Luciana's book, "A Man of the Beatitudes: Pier Giorgio Frassati."