Nonna Anastasia

It is 1941 and Anastasia doesn’t have time to rest. She has seven mouths to feed and no money. Her husband is dead and the war is raging. There are Nazi soldiers in the streets of her town and fear hangs like a fog in the morning air. She bundles herself in an old knit shawl and leaves the warmth of her home, to walk across the fields to the farms in the distance.

As she reaches the farmhouse she knocks on the door. In each case, she will offer her services; to clean, cook, sew, any work that needs to be done, all in exchange for a meal and perhaps some food to bring home to her children. When there is no work available, she simply begs for a handout of food to get through another day.

A few days ago the edict came from Il Duce. Mussolini commands that all the women of Italy donate their wedding rings to the Fascist cause. The gold is needed for the failing war effort. Anastasia thinks long and hard, her wedding band is one of the few reminders she has of her beloved husband, Antonio. She hides her wedding ring and replaces it on her finger with another band. To defy the Fascists can mean death, but Anastasia will not be moved.

When she dies at age 101, my nonna Anastasia will be wearing her wedding ring.