Anna was sitting
on a wooden swing in a backyard of her house. She was smiling as she watched
her three school-age grandchildren joyfully jumping on a trampoline. She really
embraced being a grandma. Her own children were around the same age when she
had to leave them with their father and move to Italy to work. It was a really
hard decision to make, but she didn’t want her daughters to grow up the way she
did- in poor living conditions with no money to persuade their dreams.
Twenty years
earlier the bus arrived at the bus station in her home town- Bilgoraj located
in southeastern Poland. Her three
children and a husband were with her. The driver got out of the brand new
looking bus and opened the trunk. Anna’s
husband placed her little suitcase in there while she hugged and kissed her
kids. “Don’t cry,” she asked them in a warm voice, ”I will be back soon.” She
didn’t give them any hint that inside her body she was crying more than them.
She was really scared of moving to an unknown country- Italy, living with
strangers and not knowing their language. However, the scariest part was to be
separated from her daughters. Was her husband up to this challenge? Are her
kids going to be fine? Battling her own thoughts she entered the bus. She sat
down and looked at her family who were standing there waving to her. She had to
stay strong because she was doing it for them.
Life didn’t spoil
Anna. She grew up in a village called Zurawnica in the poorest region of
Poland. By the age of eight cooking meals for the family, feeding livestock and
milking cows and collecting wood were her daily duties. That didn’t really
bother her, but she was rather content that she could support her sick mother.
Her favorite part of the day was school. To get there, she had to take an hour
walk on a gravel road regardless of the weather, but it was worth it. She loved to learn new things. Studying let
her escape a gray reality, broaden her horizons, dream and hope that one day
these dreams will come true. She finished high school at the top of her class.
Anna’s teachers were advising her go to Marie Curie-Sklodowska University but
sadly that wasn’t an option. The reality was that her family could barely
afford to put food on the table. That’s why she got a two-year diploma in a
nearby collage. During that time she started seeing Henry- a handsome graduate
student from a nearby village. When after 6 months of dating he asked her to
marry her and she said, “yes”. That was not because she was in love but it was
expected of her to get married and move out of the family home.
First months in Italy were a
nightmare. When Anna met her arranged employer- a middle-aged woman called
Francesca, she got rejected. Francesca looked at Anna with piercing eyes and
with contempt tone compared her to a model. The truth was that Anna was very
pretty. She had blond, curly hair in ponytail, deep blue eyes and flawless
skin. She was petite and skinny. The woman was clearly jealous of her beauty.
This situation didn’t break Anna’s motivation. She was even more determined to
find another job, work hard and earn some much needed money. With a help of a
friend she finally got a job as a housekeeper and PCA for an elderly couple
that lived in Frascati- a town within a short distance from Rome.
Weeks were going
slowly. Anna missed her kids and kept
waiting for Sunday- her only day off, to hear their sweet voices asking “Mom when are you coming back?” The truth was that she didn’t know the
answer. All she knew was that her family
desperately needed a new place to live. They were renting a very old,
one-bedroom apartment. Whenever it was raining, water was dripping from the
celling like there was no roof. Anna used to put pots all over the apartment to
catch the water. Now it was her husband’s job. Her goal was to save enough
money to give her daughters a better place to live.
From Monday To
Saturday she wasn’t allowed to go outside the house. She felt like she was
locked in a prison cell gasping for fresh air. She would wake up at 6 am and
study Italian. Afterwards she would leave her room and go upstairs to cook,
serve, vacuum, scrub, wipe and help her handicapped employer- Laura with
personal care. Anna could finally go
back to her tiny basement room at 8 pm where, despite being exhausted, she
would study for a few more hours. After
the month was up, she got her first paycheck– 800 lire. The next day she went
to Rome and spent 50 lire on clothes for her daughters. She didn’t buy anything
for herself. The rest of the money had to be put away.
In August 2000
Anna went to spent summer vacation with her family. That was her yearly routine
now - to work for 11 months and come back to Poland for a month. Her daughters
were very exited to finally see her. By then they were used to living without
their mom. Anna was proud how independent and mature they became. They reminded
her of herself when she was growing up. The whole family was also intensively
looking to buy their dream house. When they finally saw it, it was like a love
at a first sight- they didn’t notice any imperfections, only the potential. It
was a four bedroom, three-story brick house with a huge yard located in a very
good neighborhood. Anna couldn’t enjoy her purchase. Her thoughts where already
in Italy and how the next 11 months filled with 70-hour working week would put
a severe strain on her body. She was
trying to cover up those worries with positive thoughts. She was proud of
herself to be able to reach her goal. She was proud of her daughters becoming
ambitious, focused and hard working young ladies. She had to push herself a
little more to pay for their education and renovating their new home.
Suddenly Anna’s
journey back to past was interrupted by her daughter’s voice. “Mom I knew I’m
going to find you here. It’s time for lunch”, Agata said with a smile. She
helped her mom to get up from a swing and after calling the kids, they all
headed inside where the table was set.
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