Entry 33: The Children of Salvatore Moschilla and Concetta Trimboli

Location: Calabria, Italy

Date: 1933 to late 1940’s

The list of Concetta and Salvatore’s children have been numbered one to nine, in birth order from oldest to youngest: ‘I figghi da Cuncia e du Sarvu – cuminciandu da cchiu randi a cchiu picciula, di una fina novi.’

ONE: Cecilia

Concetta and Salvatore’s first child was born in the year following their 1933 marriage. Continuing many generations of family tradition where children were named in honour of grandparents, they gave their baby the name Cecilia - after Salvatore’s mother, Cecilia Pedulla. Sadly, and unexpectedly, she lived only for a few months. Concetta was in shock and overcome with grief when she realised her sleeping daughter wasn’t breathing. A silent emptiness filled their home after the tragedy as the young couple struggled to cope with the agony of their loss.

TWO: Giovanni

The arrival of son Giovanni was the perfect remedy for lifting the heavy weight of sorrow. As Concetta nursed her baby, joy and relief flowed over her like a soothing breeze through an open window, mending her wounded heart.

THREE: Angela

Concetta and Salvatore embraced parenthood, and the numerous daughters that followed. Their third child Angela, was named after Concetta’s mother, Angela Galea.

FOUR: Maria

Maria was a beautiful, healthy baby when she was born, but at around six months old, she was diagnosed with meningitis. Due to limited access to medical treatment, her condition became very serious. Although Maria survived, the infection caused permanent deafness resulting in no speech development. A second complication caused severe muscular weakness in both legs, delaying her ability to walk during the early childhood years of her life. Muscle strength took a long time to improve, but fortunately, by the age of 5 she made a full recovery.

Maria’s inability to hear and speak was compensated by an intuitive system of sign language, used between parents, siblings and close family members. Her intelligence was quite evident in her abilities to communicate non-verbally, demonstrating a capacity to understand what was going on around her. She was inquisitive, able to adapt to new situations and if she needed something to be clarified, she was confident to seek an explanation by asking – “What is happening?”

As a name, ‘Maria’ was chosen in honour of the Virgin Mary. Concetta was a religious woman whose faith provided her with both the strength to face, and the resilience to overcome the many challenges in her life. Reciting a ‘Hail Mary’ or ‘Our Father’ prayer at least once every day, ensured her spiritual support was always there, gracefully walking by her side:

“Ave Maria, piena di grazia, il Signore è con te…”

FIVE: Cecilia

The importance, to Concetta and Salvatore, of upholding naming traditions is best demonstrated with their next baby, when they decide to use the name ‘Cecilia’ again. With this gesture, their respectful duty towards mother and mother-in-law was now fulfilled.

SIX: Girolama

Daughter Girolama arrived during the destruction, chaos and uncertainty of World War 2.

SEVEN: Rosa

Rosa was born towards the end of the war, amidst an exhausted world in desperate need of peace.

EIGHT: Andrea

Finally, after the birth of many daughters, Concetta delivered a long-awaited son. Salvatore named him Andrea after his father.

NINE: Giuseppa

Another daughter is welcomed! However, on the day of the baby’s arrival, a dramatic series of events took place for Concetta – involving tomatoes, a sprint across the countryside, a snake and quail hunting – these four factors came together, resulting in an unforgettable birth. This particular story will be saved for another time.

Note: Giuseppa prefers to be known by the name ‘Giuseppina’. The latter will be used, from this point onwards, when referring to her.

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EXTRA INFORMATION

It’s interesting to point out that ‘Girolama’ and ‘Rosa’ were also the names of Concetta’s sisters. She continued this trend with her next baby, by naming her Giuseppa – the name of a third sister. This name however, served a dual purpose. Aware her biological clock was running out of time, and this was likely to be her final pregnancy, ‘Giuseppa’ was an appropriate name to represent her father, being the female equivalent of ‘Giuseppe’. Furthermore, this leads to an unconfirmed possibility:  maybe, the name ‘Maria’ served a dual purpose too, as Salvatore’s only sister was also named Maria. After using names of parents (usually beginning with the paternal side), it was a common practice to select names of siblings, close family members and saints.