Life was not easy for our Mother when she married a Polish soldier in April 1946 the wartime
romance developed when she began working in the kitchens of the officers' mess.
Boleslaw Markiewicz was the cook there and he would flirt and torment her playing tricks like
undoing her apron strings.
This flirting developed and they eventually married, then as a wife of a soldier she had to leave her
beloved home in the seaside town of Porto Civitanova Italy and came to the UK to live in the army
Nissen Huts community.
The emigration was always going to prove difficult mainly due to the language and communication
barriers together with moving from camp to camp.
They had to leave their family behind to experience the difficulties of integration and the mixture of
languages spoken.
But, with the foundation of the Italian family upbringing and Family values Mam managed to raise
a family of 3 Daughters and 5 sons and we never wanted for anything.
Mam has passed on these same valued and life skills which we cherish together with Italian and
Polish traditions which has made our family proud to pass on to our own families.
We are constantly reminded never to forget that The Family is the core and foundation of Italian
life.
As a typical Italian Mother Mam was deeply respected as the pillar of the family, always providing
us with wonderful traditional Italian meals, and woe betide anyone misbehaving because the big
wooden spoon was never far away… and it didn’t do us any real harm.
Mam was the emotional, spiritual, moral and loving backbone of the family, but had a great sense of
humour and wit which never left her even in her last days.
Mam was never happier than when she was surrounded by children and the more the merrier.
Christmas and Easter celebrations would see us hosting big family get-togethers with endless
traditional Italian and Polish food and cakes. Mamma’s Lasagne recipe has been passed down for
generations and passed on to our own families.
When the Alzheimers started we didn’t realise what was going on but soon we knew something
wasn’t right and as it progressed it took away some of her memories but it didn’t take away the
essence of her person.
In closing I will say that Our Mamma touched the hearts of anyone who had the pleasure of coming
into contact with this amazing mother Grandma and Great.Grandma