I'm Roberta. I live in the province of Treviso, in a town called Paese. Original, I know.
I live there with ten cats and two dogs. And also with Maurizio, whom I married thirty-three years ago.
He is happy, retired.
I work instead. Most of the time for a company that processes waste paper. It is one of the Ateco codes for which it can keep open.
Since the virus emergency began, my life has not changed much: at work everything has continued as always, with a few afternoons of smart working and a few more days of vacation.
And so my other occupation also continued. Volunteering. Feline volunteering, in my case.
I am part of an association that takes care of cats and I personally follow the cat colonies in my area. Every day, same time. I go out with my 'gattara' card issued by the ASL, a letter from the president of the association and self-certification. In compliance with the law, of course. Which allows the care of free animals.
Holding this habit has helped me, it has held me on to a sense of normality. And these days we feel the need for normality more than ever.
What I do, at work and especially with my cats, gratifies me. As a child, like many girls, I wanted to be a veterinarian. I got pretty close.
Before this 2020, the most peculiar moment of all my sixty years was when my mom got sick. And in a short time he left us. It was special for me in those days, but these days it seems a tremendously common thing. It makes a great impression on me.
I know little of what will come tomorrow. What impressions I will get in a cold mind from all this. But some impressions I have precise about today.
I have the impression that today people, despite everything, continue to persist in not understanding. That only by changing our way of placing ourselves towards the other guests of the planet and towards the planet itself could we hope to spare it from the worst. And spare us these on the defense regurgitation that coughs on us to warn us, to wake us up.
But along with fear today I also know that I want to nurture hope. In a change. Because fear teaches us respect.
To me, to my family, I wish everyone to choose the right path.
