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“Hey, Chicka”, Renato calls, “do some praying for us!” And Giovanna (nickname Chicka) rattles through a rosary. She used to have one with wooden beads, but now she just uses her own knuckles because she’d always drop her old wooden rosary.Giovanna is also blind. She sits in an old plastic chair and bounces her head in a funny way, sometimes adding a little movement of the arms or legs. The others answer my questions and everyone is having a really good time. No one really knows what’s going on inside Giovanna’s head though.
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-A light breakfast with a cup of white coffee and a cookie.
-At 12 she has a little bit of pasta and a piece of chicken, meat or fish.
-After lunch she takes a nap.
-At 5 she has a plate of fruit.
-A little walk around their garden with daughter Iola.
-In summer she goes to sleep at 9, in winter at 8.Giovanna doesn’t drink water because it doesn’t taste any good. That’s why she needs an infusion every now and then. Apart from that she doesn’t really take any medication, except for a sage ointment to aid her veins and half a pill of aspirin every day. Until she turned 99 she would also have a glass of wine for lunch and dinner.While we are there she cries out twice, “Renato, I’m dying!” and everybody laughs. Giovanna fidgets a little bit more than usual and then starts singing an old Sardinian love tune. A lot of the words end with a U. Everybody laughs. Giovanna giggles and then goes back to that bouncing-around-to-drift-into-sleep-state.Before dozing I ask Giovanna if she has any advice for young people? She mumbles, “Amore.” Great interview, Grandma.MARTIN FENGELSpecial thanks to Francesco, Lino and Emanuela Rocca