As long as I can remember she was for everybody Zia Dina. In reality she is not my aunt but my grandmother’s older sister. She was born in 1921 but few people knew her age because she wouldn’t tell anyone. But in the family I was one of the few that knew because as a child I used to spend a lot of time with her mom, my great grandma Nonna Maria, and she told me Zia Dina’s secret year of birth. I’ve always told Zia Dina that she is going to reach 100 years old. She is getting closer to that and we will see if I am right.

She has never worked in her life. Her family was poor but she married a rich man, liutenant Gianni Garino who then became head of treasury office for the city of Genova. Zia Dina’s father was against their marriage because he thought it couldn’t last. “I didn’t listen to him” she told me, in those times it was brave not to listen but that’s in her DNA. Last summer I accompanied her to her husband’s grave which is in cimitery of Chiavari. He died about 20 years ago of cancer, but she still loves him and misses him. It was so emotional to watch her under the hot beating sun cleaning her husband’s tomb and talking to him like he still alive. I will never forget that moment. He wasn’t the perfect husband, he gave her so much troubles, he had a crazy lifestyle, indeed he also cheated on her, but they survived a war and stayed together a lifetime. Zia Dina’s memories are becoming more nostalgic and her strength are quickly dissipating. During my last visit, before I left for China I brought her some tiramisu. She usually has some Prosecco wine to offer me but this time I was in for a treat. “Take the bottle from the corner drawer” she said. I opened the door and there it was, a bottle of French champagne, a 1988 vintage reserve of Veuve Clicqout, a gift from Zio Gianni. I was so surprised: “Its probably worth a fortune, you should keep it for a good occasion” I said. “What’s a better occasion than this?” she replied. She really touched my heart. They carried around that bottle for years, saving it for a special moment. I felt privileged and honored to share that special bottle with her. Zia Dina always regrets now refusing to have a child when she was younger and often warns me not to do the same mistake. But like her I never listen to anybody either… It must run in the family… “It is so difficult to find a good woman these days, a woman I can trust”. But she doesn’t insists because she understands me. In today’s society love and marriages that last for a lifetime are becoming more and more rare. It’s a pity..