Nanna Francesca when she was a little girl standing with her mother – and me as a little girl standing with Nanna Francesca. It just happens we were both the same age as little girls when these photos were taken and, by chance, I’m now the same age Nanna Francesca was in her photo with me.
In February this year, Nanna Francesca would’ve turned a hundred. I still miss her terribly, even our tug-of-wars amid her generosities and kindnesses. She was one person in my life who I recognise gave me unconditional love. Just, love.
Two little girls with ribbons in their hair, unaware of what their futures might bring. One about to leave Italy to embark on a new life in Australia, the other who would one day go to Italy to see and write of the place her grandmother had left.
The wheel turns, as Bisnonna Maddalena would say. ‘La ruota gira.’ All of us having a turn. Fate, the cyclical nature of life, a series of ups and downs, circumstances that can change rapidly, resilience, humility, adaptability. And, as Nanna Francesca would add (in that way she could bring things back to earth), ‘Always remember, non tutte le ciambelle riescono col buco. Not all doughnuts come out with a hole.’ Not everything in life will turn out perfectly… but you can still be okay. 💛
It is fifteen years since the 6.3-magnitude earthquake that struck Abruzzo at 3.32am on 6 April 2009, taking the lives of 309 people and leaving 70,000 homeless in around fifty-six towns. My heart is with those who lost so much… the victims, their loved ones, all those who were displaced, the many still working hard to recover and rebuild in the long years following.
Zoë Boccabella 