Copyright © Louise Bostock 2007-2013. Please give credit where credit is due.
Signora Gina
Five degrees at 9am. Rain, with sleet and snow later. We were very sad yesterday to hear of the death of Signora Gina, our neighbour and friend, in hospital in Milan, on Friday. Signora Gina. 91 years old, with all her mental faculties functioning, and functioning better than in some 50-year-olds. She began her love affair with Carmine more than 50 years ago, when she and her husband would rent the house closest to the church. No water, no lavatory, no electricity, no gas (there's still no gas). Later they bought the house immediately below ours and were here for holidays. Signora Gina and her family would come for the summer, leaving a hot, stuffy and polluted Milan behind with much relief. Gradually, her legs started to give out, but however long the walk up took her, and however painful it may have been, she was always determined to be here. Summer began with her arrival and ended with her departure. The last two years, she was unable to walk up and was carried by volunteers from the Croce Rossa. On such days, her terrace would be crammed with fit young Italians arguing for the honour of carrying her (the things a girl has to do to be surrounded by fit young men!). Signora Gina is remembered as a woman of courage, of kindness and of boundless love for children. She was particularly happy to see the birth and christening of her first great-grandchild, Lucca, last year. During the war, it is said, she took in numbers of displaced children, and thus earned the title Mama Gina. Her fondness for the mothers and children of Carmine, even the Germans and the mongrels (like mine), will not be forgotten.
Signora Gina
Five degrees at 9am. Rain, with sleet and snow later. We were very sad yesterday to hear of the death of Signora Gina, our neighbour and friend, in hospital in Milan, on Friday. Signora Gina. 91 years old, with all her mental faculties functioning, and functioning better than in some 50-year-olds. She began her love affair with Carmine more than 50 years ago, when she and her husband would rent the house closest to the church. No water, no lavatory, no electricity, no gas (there's still no gas). Later they bought the house immediately below ours and were here for holidays. Signora Gina and her family would come for the summer, leaving a hot, stuffy and polluted Milan behind with much relief. Gradually, her legs started to give out, but however long the walk up took her, and however painful it may have been, she was always determined to be here. Summer began with her arrival and ended with her departure. The last two years, she was unable to walk up and was carried by volunteers from the Croce Rossa. On such days, her terrace would be crammed with fit young Italians arguing for the honour of carrying her (the things a girl has to do to be surrounded by fit young men!). Signora Gina is remembered as a woman of courage, of kindness and of boundless love for children. She was particularly happy to see the birth and christening of her first great-grandchild, Lucca, last year. During the war, it is said, she took in numbers of displaced children, and thus earned the title Mama Gina. Her fondness for the mothers and children of Carmine, even the Germans and the mongrels (like mine), will not be forgotten.
Five degrees at 9am. Rain, with sleet and snow later. 
1 comment:
questa è una triste notizia. La ricordo seduta davanti a casa, alla fine della salita, un saluto e due parole prima di entrre in paese.
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