Memories

We are in the Pio Albergo Trivulzio, a noble Milanese institution that cared for poor elderly people and gave them a place to spend their last years of life.

Mrs Gina, illuminated by a ray of sunshine, has her fingers crossed and is waiting, between a glass of red wine and a michetta, for her soup to be served. In that indistinct table of women all dressed alike, she is among the few not wearing the black scarf that is part of the guests' uniform.

The table neighbour, while waiting, takes a nap. It is perceived to be very cold in the large room, thick walls and vast spaces do not help to keep the heat in. Not even the dormitories and the few bathrooms are sufficient for the elderly guests; according to rumours, a new, larger and more modern facility is to be built on the road to Baggio. So Gina, while a languor pervades her stomach, sees herself on the towpath of the Naviglio with her sisters. She remembers how her father, who was a knife-grinder, went from street to street with his cart, shouting: 'donne ghè chì el moleta!' and how, with straw, raffia and pieces of cloth, he made little dolls for his daughters. He thinks back to when, in 1848, every district of the city rose up against Vienna by putting up barriers made of barrels, crates and broken chairs piled up. Suddenly echoes in her ears the song her mother used to sing when they went to wash their sheets. When they returned from the washhouse, their hands were always rough and cracked, but they were cheerful and carefree.

She sees again the shrine of Our Lady of the Assumption behind which she gave her first kiss to her Celso, who has been in heaven for a long time now and whose face she no longer remembers precisely. As the smell of soup begins to waft through the big room, only memories warm her heart, faithful companions of the daily monotony. Soon she too, the Gina, will become a plate and glass to be lifted from the long table in the refectory.

• The work:Angelo Morbelli, I remember when I was a girl Angelo Morbelli (1903), Art Gallery Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Tortona
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