Ciao! We’re In Africa

Not One but Two Deaths as a Homecoming

Leaving to go and live in a country on the other side of the world separates families and friends. Yet, it's happened since time immemorial as (wo)men seek better or different lives. No matter how exciting or successful that new life is, reuniting after a year or even ten years with someone from your past—with whom you were close—is emotional. It stirs up both physical and mental reactions and reaches to our very core. My mum, at the age of 21, left Italy, and her mum and Nonna, when emigrating with her new husband to Africa, in 1955. Sadly, just one year later, her return was not the reunion she envisaged; both of them had passed on within just three months of each other. It's hard to go back knowing you won't get to feel their arms around you or hear their voices again ...