L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 10 THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2020 L'Italo-Americano while around the large field of the Ghetto Novo, I sud- denly remember there are a t h o u s a n d p r e c a u t i o n s t o take. "And so, a dig out the let- t e r t h e t e a c h e r s a t t h e "Rainbow Nest" kindergar- ten sent to us and our chil- dren, where I find black on white the hope of returning to normality soon: "We have learned that with a big hug, y o u ' l l s m i l e a g a i n ! W e wholeheartedly hope to hug you again as soon as possi- ble. Even though we are now apart, our hearts are close. " I placed it in my wallet. It will stay there until it's really all over. " Laura tells us about Milan, a city still in shock after the peak of infections and victims, its normally b u s y a n d p r o d u c t i v e l i f e o v e r t u r n e d b y t h e v i r u s : "Getting your food is no lon- ger as simple as it used to be: before, just a phone call was enough to get Chinese, J a p a n e s e , A m e r i c a n , Mexican. Now, you need to queue just to get some lettu- ce and a couple of tomatoes at the supermarket. I see them, those queues, looking out the window. People are standing there and staring into the empty space. You do your groceries and make do with what you have, but at the same time you have to learn how to adapt and it's amazing how many resour- ces and how much strength come out. So you realize how nice eating with your family i s , s i t t i n g w i t h t h e m a n d chatting without being in a rush. Yes, I miss coffee at the bar in the morning, but I am more aware of my inner world now, because the stil- lness of these months forced me to get in touch with it. Those who had the good for- tune not to be affected by the virus have been able to rewrite their days, and now, this is all we need. "Staying indoors opens up new horizons. We'd like to hug those we love these d a y s . U n t i l y e s t e r d a y , I would take some relation- s h i p s f o r g r a n t e d : m y friends, my parents, they were there. But today, today that I can't be with them, I understand how precious they are and, even if I still can't see them in person, I am grateful to have them in my life. I don't know when, b u t w e ' l l h u g a g a i n , a n d t h a t ' l l b e a n a m a z i n g moment. "In the meantime, I dis- covered the beauty of living with a slower pace. It's not philosophy, believe me. I didn't think I could go that f a r b u t I r e e v a l u a t e d s o - called normality. Cooking a plate of pasta without being in a rush, playing with my daughter, watching a movie w i t h m y h u s b a n d : t h e s e things should be normal, yet they had lost much of their value in the whirlwind of our frantic everyday life. This makes me aware of the fact that afterwards, when it is all gone, when the world returns to being what it was, I will no longer be the same, because I do not want to leave behind the pleasure these little discoveries give me. But perhaps none of us will be the same and we'll see the world from a new, different perspective." THE CENTER - The sit- uation is constantly improv- i n g . T u s c a n y a n d L a z i o remain at 4 thousand posi- tive cases, and Marche at 3 t h o u s a n d . I n t w o w e e k s , Abruzzo went from 3 thou- sand to 1.600 cases. G o f f r e d o , w h o i s s t i l l waiting to see L'Aquila rise again after the deep wounds inflicted to it by the 2009 e a r t h q u a k e , i n v i t e s u s t o take advantage of this "sus- pended" time to change and improve. For this reason, he chooses to share with us the thoughts of his son Federico, taken from the homily he recited for the feast of the Madonna d'Appari, the most important festivity of t h e y e a r i n P a g a n i c a , w h i c h d i d n ' t t a k e p l a c e because of the Coronavirus. " T h e e m p t i n e s s w e f e e l today, is a stab worse, I dare s a y , t h a n t h a t o f 2 0 0 9 , when we had nothing, but at l e a s t w e w e r e t o g e t h e r . T o d a y w e c a n ' t l o o k i n t o e a c h o t h e r ' s e y e s , s h a k e h a n d s , g i v e e a c h o t h e r a hug: and how much this has been weighing on us! A long- ing to return to normal, to start doing things again ari- ses, in the hope this situa- t i o n w i l l e n d s o o n . A n d while we live this difficult time, we take refuge in the past, we run with our mind i n t o t h e f u t u r e , w h i l e w e should stay here, in the pre- sent, and change our lives. Yes, because if this scourge were to end right now and we remained the same, it would probably be an even greater misfortune. "When this all passes, we cannot go back. As the Pope urged us, we must not waste this opportunity. We can't allow all this pain, all these deaths, all the heroic com- mitment of our healthcare practitioners to be in vain. This is the 'recession' we must fear the most: this is w h a t F a t h e r R a i n e r o Cantalamessa said during his Good Friday sermon, in front of Pope Francis. " Y e s , t h e r e w i l l b e immense, harsh economic difficulties, we know it well, but the main recession to be feared is another, it's get- ting out of this tragedy with- out having learned anything. Because a blow, personal or collective, is not enough to change a man's heart; the earthquake taught us that. It is not enough, if we don't recognize, clearly and hum- bly, that some things in our personal life must change, too. Careful now! I am not saying it's the world, society, the economic system that has to change: it's me, it's u s . B e c a u s e , a s s o m e o n e o n c e s a i d ' i f I c h a n g e , i t means the world's started to change." T H E S O U T H - I n 1 5 days a thousand less infec- t i o n s i n C a m p a n i a a n d Puglia. Very low thresholds i n t h e o t h e r s o u t h e r n regions. B r u n o w r i t e s f r o m t h e province of Campobasso, in Molise, a region largely s p a r e d b y t h e v i r u s : l e s s t h a n 4 0 0 c a s e s s i n c e t h e beginning of the outbreak. Y e t e v e n t h e r e , t h e s l o w weeks of isolation mirrored the pace of the epidemic: "It is now certain that Covid-19 changed our lives by how it took all of our solid, daily habits by storm. Restrictive measures aimed at avoiding the uncontrolled expansion o f t h e e p i d e m i c w e r e a necessity. "In addition to the hard- s h i p o f i t s e n d u r a n c e , i n these weeks of forced social i s o l a t i o n q u a r a n t i n e h a s impacted substantially our psychophysical, economic and social wellbeing. A new and painful experience that led to the loss of individual freedom, to the separation from the people we love, and t o a s t a t e o f u n c e r t a i n t y about our health and our future. "What to do then? Will we get out of it once and for all? Between the vic- tims and the sick, a frighte- ning scenario emerged, but we shall rise from it stronger than before. The future lies i n o u r r e s p o n s i b l e c o n - sciences and in our hands, provided we work concre- tely, righteously and aware of what we must do. " A n u n e x p e c t e d , h a r d , unsettling and embarrassing lesson that hit everyone and should become an unmissa- ble opportunity from which, i n t h e f u t u r e , w e ' l l g e t strength and encouragement t o c o n t i n u e o u r j o u r n e y . The hope therefore is that 'in the middle of the journey of our lives,' to say it with our Sommo Poeta, Dante, we'll all soon be able to 'see the stars,' aware of what we've been experiencing, perhaps a l i t t l e r i c h e r i n s i d e a n d more aware of the opportu- nities we have." A view of Termoli, in the Campobasso province of Molise. The region has been largely spared by the epidemic, if compared to other areas , but cases and deaths have been recorded here, too (Photo: Dreamstime) A picturesque view of Scanno, in the L'Aquila province, Abruzzo. Here, too, as everywhere else in Italy, life has chan- ged profoundly because of Covid-19 (Photo: Dreamstime) Continued from pg 8

• Cover