Lidia

From Italy to Morwell

I thought my husband was mad when he told me we were going to Australia.

We were old – too old to start a new life. I was a grandma, for goodness’ sake!

That was nearly 44 years ago, and here I still am. In fact, I’ve lived on the same street in Morwell for more than 40 years.

I was 42 when we first arrived. My husband was 46. We came with our two youngest daughters, Silvana (12) and Lina (14), to live with our eldest daughter, Elisa. She’d married an Italian boy who lived in Australia, and we followed her here.

It was 22 November 1977. I told my husband we only had another 10 to 15 years of our working lives left. That’s not much time, is it?

We had to suffer, work hard and stay here. It was going to be hard for my husband and me. But the truth is, it could be better for our kids. I’d had a hard life working on the land back home in Italy. We knew this was a country where our girls could do something with their lives.

I grew up in a very poor village, you see. Piana di Spinete – that’s what it was called. My sister and I, we grew up on the land. We grew corn, wheat, vineyards, and trees with fruit. We had chickens, piglets, horses and donkeys. It was a little farmlet, just for us. We didn’t have the money for me to go to school, so I stopped going. I was ten years old, and I learnt very young how to be an adult.

My husband and I married in 1954. He worked with contractors on the roads; I was still working the land. We didn’t want the same life for our own daughters.

So we came to Australia, my husband and I, and we lived with our eldest daughter for one year. In January 1979, we bought our first house in Morwell.

Our two youngest daughters went to school. My husband worked as a tradesman’s assistant at the power station. I worked as a cleaner.

I went to school straightaway. I learnt how to speak English and how to write my address and my name. I mostly learnt how to speak English by watching the news. I thought, the people who do the news must say the words right. I’ve got an Italian accent for sure, but I tried to learn the words a little more correctly.

We paid off our first house in three years. We bought two cars – one for us and one for our daughter. With my work, my wages, I looked after our family. My husband’s wages went into the bank, and in 1986 we bought our second house with cash.

At 54 years of age I went to get my learners and I got my licence. I still drive today, aged 85. I worked very hard to get my licence, and I am very proud of this.

I found it hard to learn, but I worked hard to learn. It wasn’t easy. I found it hard, because I was old.

The thing is, I’m happy I did it. All my family is here, including all nine of my great grandchildren.

The best place to live is Australia. Gippsland is my home.