Robur E-Book

Emma Montes

• Herausgeber: Youcanprint
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

What is life if not a never-ending attempt to make it seem relevant? What is its significance if we don't feel its rhythm and don't overwhelmingly enjoy its scents? This autobiography is a heartfelt and times contorted journey, that the author shares with the reader with an end goal to be the protagonist and not the helpless victim of events. The author leads us by the hand along a path strewn with obstacles and sidetracks that forced her to learn how to clarify ever single moment with acute awareness. People, encounters, places, journeys and magic that will involve the reader leading to inner peace and the pleasant disenchantment of the creator of these very pages.

Leseprobe

Indice

PREFACE

THANKS

LIVES

MY FATHER

MY MOTHER

THE TRUTH

MY GRAND MOTHER

MY GRAND FATHER

MY SELF

ARGENTINA

TRAUMA

A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS

BOLOGNA

THAT FIRST MEETING

A STRANGE ILLNESS

STARTING TO LIVE AGAIN

MY SOLO TRIP

THE WHEEL TURNS

FLORIDA, THE BEST GIFT OF ALL

ANOTHER ILLNESS

THE DEPARTURE

RINGLING

TRAVELLING

THE HURRICANE

NEW ORLEANS

LAST MONTH IN SARASOTA

THE FINAL CHAPTER

ROBUR

Title | ROBUR

Author | Lorella Cappellato

ISBN | 9791220343442

© All rights reserved by the Author

No part of this book may

be reproduced without the

prior permission of the Author.

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@LorellaCappellato Editing Emanuela Gardoni Photos Lorella Cappellato

PREFACE

Emma came to meet us the first time at the villa outside of Verona where we held our cooking courses. I walked down the stairs from our bedroom and saw her laughing and playing with Michela. Our six-month old daughter was happily giggling and the two bonded instantly, a bond that has now lasted 17 years. Emma's delight with Michela was completely genuine. I never would have guessed of the hardships and health issues that had afflicted Emma for most of her life. In fact, I did not learn of them until much later, and there was quite a bit that I did not even know until I read her story in this book.

Emma's story is quite extraordinary. The obstacles life has presented her are formidable, yet Emma managed to persevere, no matter how often she encountered setbacks. When we met her, it's as if she was starting life over, with a clean slate. For her, America was quite literally the "new world". It was a place for her to be reborn. I came to see the place where we lived very differently. Her descriptions made it seem like a fantasyland, filled with smells, sounds, and sites that belonged in a fairy tale. The pleasures she derived from our life gave it a new and wonderful meaning.

Reading her story one feels that even the bleakest moments can be overcome and turned to joy and happiness. It has been a pleasure to know Emma. She has been a treasured gift to our family, and in particular to our two daughters.

Giuliano Hazan

THANKS

Rarely do we accomplish our goals entirely on our own. Sometimes, simply an encouragement can energize us and have a significant impact on us.

In laying out this autobiography I have benefited from the support of many people who have believed in me. In particular, I have availed myself of the help from a dear friend, a professional, without whom I would not have succeeded in writing this book. So I would like to thank Emanuela Gardoni for her editing, her patience, availability and her big heart.

I wish to thank my family, who "endured" the lengthy difficult parts of my illness, and I know it was not easy. I thank them also for always believing in my abilities and for always supporting me.

A heartfelt thanks to my friend Arianna Crocco for helping me discover a new world of safeness, love and self-confidence.

Thanks is also due tue my friend Piera Benciolini who, notwithstanding our cadenced arguments, has always been there when needed. I thank her also for help in correcting my Italian text, for allowing me to share one of her poems.

A special thanks to Michela Hazan, without her tenderness and sympathy I would not have stayed so long in Sarasota. I thank her also for helping me to correct some parts of my English text.

Last but not least, I lack the words to adequately thank what I call "My American family" Giuliano, Lael, Gabriella and Michela Hazan, for the affection and joy with which they welcomed me and showed me a new (for me) way of life which I adored immensely and continue to adore, and for all they have given me.

A heartfelt thanks to everyone.

Robur in Latin means both oak and strength. I couldn't find a better term to describe my life.

LIVES

by Piera Benciolini

There are lives

that flow rapidly

without issues

without having to turn back

or needing to restart

There are lives

that never began

and stunted lives

unsuitable lives

Have you understood your life?

Have you loved your life?

You unravelled it or it

passed you by

MY FATHER

After the Second World War my father moved to Argentina, urged more than anything by a desire for adventure. I was always incredibly fascinated whenever he told me about how he arrived in Buenos Aires. He would tell me how he and a friend left the shores of Italy in a boat not much bigger than a nutshell and with the insouciance of their youth embarked on a journey to South America armed only with hope and expectation. Obviously they didn't cross the ocean in a rowing boat, but I always liked to have this image in my mind's eye. In my young head I used to dream what it would be like to travel like that to a country that was almost unknown and unreachable in the 1940s. But I had to make do with listening to his tales, tales that I so eagerly awaited. He told me how at the beginning the immigrants would accept any work that was available. In the early days he spent his time doing heavy labour in a carpentry or on a farm. Whenever he talked about that time it was with a touch of bitterness because the disturbing news from Italy that reached Argentina was usually about the mafia or the settling of scores, if he mentioned that he was Italian he would hear the remark "Italian-Mafia".

For an honest man like my father who loved his home country this was an insult like no other. But over time he became better known and was well respected.