L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 8 THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2020 L'Italo-Americano F orced to wait at the window, waiting for infection to decrease signi- ficantly. Coronavirus has been changing our lives, our thoughts and our priori- ties. From North to South, here's what L'Italo-Ameri- cano's writers tell us about life at the times of the pan- demic. The North remains the heart of the epidemic. On the 23rd of April, for the first time, there were more recovered than new cases. In Lombardia, however, deaths and new infections struggle to diminish, just like in Emilia and Piemonte, the other two most affected regions: together, they have half of Lombardia's 35.000 cases. Numbers recorded on the 27th of April, however, are encouraging: after 42 days of mayhem, the number of people in ICU dropped under 2.000. Stefano talks about the emergency as witnessed in the province of Milan, where the virus kills trea- cherously. "When this see- mingly endless, absurd period of our lives began, it felt peculiar rather than worrying. Schools were closing, we were told to avoid contacts and we believed covid-19 was just a "bad flu." The more we went on, however, the more the situation became dra- matic: from an economic point of view, from a social and personal point of view and, especially, from that of our health. As councilor for education, social policies and sport in Busto Garolfo, a small town of 14.000 between Milan and Varese, the beginning of the crisis meant we had to work hard to disseminate regional and national's regulations, which became stricter and stricter. The lockdown's earliest day were full and passed very quickly: a con- tinuum of online meetings with representatives of all local agencies. Then, things began to change: from schools closing to the hal- ting of all sport activities, all the way to the crucial measures taken to keep us all home and to help the most at risks categories. In this vortex of administrati- ve decisions and rules, my family was directly affected by the loss of a loved one, something that entirely changed our perception of the pandemic. "Busto Garolfo seemed far from the infected heart of the Covid emergency, but the illusion of being on the fringes of this tragedy, after the death of my uncle, ended abruptly. Father Franco Carnevali, parish priest at the Holy Trinity church in Monza, had a great pastoral career: before Monza, he was coadjutor in Lecco and dio- cesan assistant of Azione Cattolica; he became a monsignor in Gallarate and then episcopal vicar for the Melegnano area. In each and every one of his duties, my uncle gave all he could, following the principles of the Gospels, principles that guided him always when he had to make difficult deci- sions, which he took with the interest of the poor, of the foreigner, of the last perennially at heart. The many messages of remem- brance and sorrow my family has been receiving since he passed, are testi- mony to the dedication he always had for those around him. "But to me, Father Franco was, above all, an uncle, with whom I shared interests, passions and important moments of my life. In spite of his many engagements and of the many kilometers that sepa- rated us, he would always find the time, on Sundays, to have dinner with us, at my parents' house. He was always present and he always had meaningful words in all the most important moments of my life — he celebrated my wedding! — and my brothers'. He was a wise and knowledgeable support for me while I studied theo- logy, he always gave me The gothic splendor of the Duomo di Milano (Photo: Dreamstime) North, Center and South: how Covid-19 changed the way we live — part two BARBARA MINAFRA LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE Continued to page 10

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