Goodbye to Italia

My Pets

I firmly believe that a life, at some stage, without a cat or a dog, or other, is not as ‘full’. Animals are such ‘giving’ creatures, and in turn, we share and give too. What a joy it is to arrive home and be greeted by such joyous excitement. Back in the day, even during the war, my mother found joy in having a pet. The excerpt is from my first award-winning book, Goodbye to Italia. As you read on, you will see that sometimes any animal can make a most unexpected pet. The scene is in 1940 when Mariolina (my mother) was six years old. Due to the industrial factories in Turin (Torino), as soon as Mussolini took Italy into WW2, the British Royal Airforce (RAF) Bomber Command began their bombing of that city. Although these were ‘light’ raids, the disruption to lives and some civilian buildings were destroyed. Life would never be the same again and for a child having to go to bomb shelters (bunkers), especially at night, was something Mariolina hated. Finding a pet, something to love, in such a troubled world is captivating. #pets #WW2 #Italy