Nonna and Nonno

last sunday my surrogate grandmother died, I love her and miss her so much...

this is what my mother wrote about Nonna and Nonno:

In all the years we have been in Vicenza, we have been friends with our old neighbors Toni and Amelia. They became adoptive grandparents to Arthur and Daniela and good helpful friends to all of us. Toni came and helped us in the yard for many years. He thought nothing of climbing up a towering cyprus tree and cutting off the top at 80 years old. Finally he stopped riding his moto so we he didn't come anymore. We always went to visit them and took all of our visitors to meet them. They welcomed whoever showed up at their door no matter what time of the day it was. Toni talked and told stories even if it was in a different language, and Amelia had such a sense of humor she could make people laugh in any language. Toni died in May 2006, with his boots on working in the yard. Amelia lasted a year and a half without him, although she would say "non c'e niente senza Toni, tutto e` cambiato": without Toni there is nothing everything has changed. She had a very good Romanian woman taking care of her, who probably kept her alive that long. She had heart disease which worsened with time and quietly took her home on the 5th of January. She asked Art if he would take her on a cruise a few hours before she died. I went there 2 or 3 times a week for all the time we were here. Amelia was a true friend, and I loved her as did any of you who were able to meet her and laugh with her and look into those wonderful eyes.

A chapter has closed for us but not only....that generation who lived through 2 wars, suffered from hunger and didn't really get indoor plumbing and electricity until 30-40 years ago, is disappearing from Italy. They were the backbone of Italy, living simply, gathering food from the fields and forest, cooking meals to die for in simple kitchens without a lot of equipment, raising animals that they ate--meat with no drugs and creepy additives, not consuming because they remembered how it was to live without and what it was like to carry water up the hill each day from a communal spring in the valley. They said that was the good life in which people were happy and willing to share what little they had. As they disappear from the countryside, I hope Italy manages to hold onto what makes it a charming and wonderful country to visit and live in.