Memories Of Our Days

The Austro-Hungarian army is defeated: they suffered heavy losses during the tenacious resistance during the first days of battle and during the chasing; they lost huge amounts of materials of any kind and almost all their warehouses and deposits; so far he left in our hands about 300 thousand prisoners and all the commanding officers and no less than 5 thousand cannons.

What was left of one of the most powerful armies in the worlds are getting back up the valleys that they had previously descended with proud confidence all scattered and without any hope.

Signed A. Diaz -

It was the end of a nightmare.

Giovanni had dashed back home from the village after buying the newspaper and now, surrounded by the women and sitting at the kitchen table, he was reading the latest news aloud, his voice was cracking up from time to time.

Maria was nervously rubbing her apron and said in a soft voice – Thank God, at last it is all over!- Ada was keeping her hands on her chest, as if she was trying to keep her heart which was beating so fast that she could not speak.

Giulia, standing behind Giovanni, was reading quietly with eager eyes the lines that he was reading loud, eager to get to the bottom of the page

-Rudi is coming back home, everybody is coming home- she was repeating to herself. The last letter dated back two months earlier and had he had reassured her about his health condition. She could have hugged him again and go back to the everyday life.

Giovanni finished reading and his eyes were wet.

-I’ll go to the village. People are organising a parade to celebrate the victory. I’ll bring the kids with me.-

-Only Antonino e Clara, not the little ones- Giulia said worried.

-It is a memorable day, people will remember it forever. Why you don’t want them to come? The whole village will be there…-

-That’s why- she reiterated – they could get lost

-I’ll be happy to come- Ada said, the lump in her throat was loosening up and was giving way to an anxiety that she could only get rid of by doing something.

-What about you?- Giovanni asked the others.

-I’d rather stay at home- Giulia replied.

-So do I- Maria added.

They got ready and they got on the buggy. The children felt the excitement in the air and were waving little paper flags that the twins had coloured, crammed on the seat, one on top of the other. They headed off all excited to the village full of the joys of spring, where everyone was celebrating in the streets and the local marching band was playing the royal march, which now was the National anthem.

They got there just on time to see the parade arriving. Clara and Antonino jumped off the buggy and ran under the makeshift stage, where the authorities could praise in turns the great deeds of the Italian troops. The marching band would play national anthems in between the various speeches. Everybody clapped their hands when they heard the pretentious sound of the words Nation and Italy.

To be free to run round among the crowds would excite the little ones who were chasing one another boisterously making the most of the general leeway. The old veterans were waving the flags and women were hugging happily. Agnese and Luciano would have liked to follow their siblings but Ada’s hands held them tight. She would often stumble when one would pull from one side and the other from the other side. That would go on until with a tug she would put an end to all that. Giovanni had moved away and was involved in a heated conversation in the middle of the square with a group of men.

When the parade broke down in a shouting crowd, Ada went over to him and asked him to go home. She felt tired and the November stinging and damp air convinced her to go back home despite the celebrations were still going on, worried that the little ones could get sick.

They went back home despite the children were complaining and unhappy to go home, the day should have been endless for them.

Ada was complaining about a bad headache and said that she would go to bed while everyone else had a load of things to do.

The following morning she did not get up, her headache was worse and she also had a little temperature. They forbid the children to go into her room, making sure they would not make too much noise. They were used to be told – Don’t make too much noise, auntie Ada is not well- so they decided to do quieter activities on that day.

Over the next few days her health condition got worse. The temperature was higher and she was complaining of pains in her joints. She had shivers and no cover would keep her warm.

They sent for the doctor. After visiting her, dr Marinucci went downstairs to the kitchen and was visibly concerned.

-Giovanni , I am sorry, but I fear that she has the Spanish flu- he said sorrowful- I thought that the epidemic was nearly gone, that the worse was over, but there are still some sick people in the village and I really believe that Ada is one of these-

Everybody feared this news and they were speechless.

-The Spanish flu? Are you sure doctor?-

-I fear so. I saw too many of these cases-

-What can we do?- Giovanni asked with a sigh.

-Give her quinine morning and night. Hopefully it won’t be as infective as it was at the beginning-

-What about the children? – Giulia asked.

- It is pointless to take them somewhere else. The chance to get infected is everywhere. Try to keep them far from their aunt and often ventilate the rooms. There’s nothing else that you can do. I’ll come back tomorrow to see her again-

Giovanni took the doctor to the door, leaving the women in their silence.

-You know it better than me- he said to him when they were on the doorstep- don’t keep your hopes high. I have recently seen very young and extremely healthy people die in a few days. That is the last tragic consequence of the war. This is probably the war we fought at home. Come on, I’ll see you tomorrow.-

They shook hands. Giovanni was sick with worry. Dr Marinucci saw him and his children being born, he was an old doctor who had carried out his job with dignity, and suffered with the limited means that medicine would offer at the time. In those few words he could sense the tiredness and the despondency of a person who can’t cope anymore with all the pains and sufferings he had been experiencing over the years plus he was getting older and everything was becoming too much and was pushing him to retire.

The epidemic had been terrible and had infected children, young people and old people. The death toll was huge and in the village there were no more coffins to bury them. The dead bodies were brought to the graveyard on a cart and buried underground. It had been like a horrible axe on the population already tired down by years of war. Whole families had been destroyed. Only a few weeks before, two very young sisters had died within a few days’ time; the mother’s grieving, among many other people’s, had particularly upset the whole village.

Giovanni’s mind was crossed by these thoughts and their burden seemed to drop on his shoulders all of a sudden. He fought with himself to try and keep them at bay and get back a little hope to let him give reassurance to the others once back in the house.

1 Chapter X

Ada

The next few days the women were going back and forth to nurse the patient.

Ada’s condition was getting worse. The very high fever did not give her a break and in a short while her prosperous body had become so thin that it was hard to recognise it. Lucia had been called in to help with the family chores. She looked after the little ones taking them outside even if the days were now quite cold. Antonino and Clara were aware of what was going on and were just carrying on quietly, the twins were quick to shake off the sadness that they could feel within the house walls. Once they were out, they would play happily without any worry. Lucia used to bring Andrea along when she got some work at the Barrieri’s because she did not have anyone to leave him with so they three of them would play happily together. In the evening, all the time spent playing in the open air would make them more tired than usual and they were sent to bed very early.

During the night the women would take turns to look after the sick woman. They tried to alleviate her suffering placing some damp cloths on her forehead. The temperature was so high and in the last few days her rasping breathing seemed to fill the whole house.

Ada’s death left a great void as usually unexpected death do and everything felt really unbelievable. What happened, unexpected and tragic at the same time, got the adults to live with the thought of how life was precarious. This feeling along with the tiredness and bewilderment, would make them feel out of energy. Giovanni was walking around the house and could not decide when to get back to work, Maria seemed to have aged, within those few days, quiet and skinny in her black dress.

Giulia was in control of the situation and was hiding behind a painful and efficient silence. When she realised that there was nothing they could do, she had immediately changed her attitude. Without wasting time in commiserations, she organised the family life to try and cope better in those stormy days. She would talk very little and she would be there day and night for the sick woman tirelessly. Maria and the rest would follow her instructions, like sailors who, in dangerous situations, see their captain as the only person to put their full trust in and not someone who just give orders.

The children reacted differently to the news about the death. Antonino cried for quite a while and lost in his suffering, he had sought shelter in his mummy and aunt’s arms. He had never got into her room and he did not want to see when she was dead. Clara had kept aside. She did not ask for updates. She would look around quietly, then she would spend whole afternoons locked up in her room, forgotten by everybody and just get out when her brother would come in to her looking for company and consolation and they would go downstairs together to eat. When her father asked her if she wanted to say her last goodbye to her auntie, she said yes. They held hands and she went over to the bed where Ada’s lifeless body was resting, dressed as she had seen her on special occasions, with the black shawl over her head that she wore in the church and the rosary beads in between her fingers. She looked at her for long and thought that she seemed to be made of wax, her thin nose and her plump body, always willing to give a warm hug, now still and cold. She felt the distance and Giovanni felt her little hand in his shaken by a nervous tremor. He put his arm around her shoulders and held her in the attempt to shelter her from that sorrow that for the first time, without any tears, was shaking her soul. She got her to leave the room holding her tight to her leg and she could not the warm smell that was comforting her greatly.

1 Chapter XI

Worries

There were not many people at the funeral. People were afraid to get infected and many people did not get back from the war. In the church there were especially the women who sat in the front seats, they were dressed in black with big dark head scarves which were covering their hair. Few men were standing at the bottom of the church, with their hats in their hands. Rudi arrived before the coffin was taken out of the house. He got the news when he was still at Fosco’s where he had stopped a few days after the end of the war. He left right away and his friend did not want to leave him alone and went with him to Viterbo.