On Friday, I was privileged to be interviewed by Antonio Dottore, the radio announcer I chatted with last year in July, just as my book was published… and sadly just before my mother died.
At the time, I was my usual ball-juggling self: managing mum's care (with my mother in law, who was living with her, and my brothers who assisted on weekends), mum's doctor's appointments, my own sanity, trying to be the best wife and mother I could be, and working freelance as much as possible.
Despite the 'successful' juggle, there was one variable I was about to find out I could not control - mum's advanced state of dementia, and the rapid escalation into an unstoppable decline.
There is so, so much to be said about this, and a blog post cannot do it justice (you can read about some of my journey in the blog posts on this page in the past few months), and this chat right here with Antonio encapsulates an edited version of my past six very vulnerable, very painful months.
Antonio is exceptional at eliciting the best from you (Antonio's Twitter profile reads: NED, researcher, educator, broadcaster, who loves gardening and occasionally bakes bread).
I did notice during our interview that my Italian was a tad shaky - seeing as I don't use it as much now that I don't converse in Italian with my mother. It's the truth, and that's painful.
But the chat with Antonio was excellent, peppered with some Aussie words when I'd get stuck.
Also, we talked about Nonna Paola! The web sensation who is super hot right now got a mention, as I'd just met her that week. Antonio even played a clip from one of her videos, and we chatted about social media and its place with the older generation. It was lots of fun in what could have been an entirely sombre interview. (You can see her clips here and here and see our meet up here).
You can listen to the whole radio interview with Antonio (it's just over an hour) right here.
And you can listen to my previous interview with Antonio in July 2014 right here.
At the time, I was my usual ball-juggling self: managing mum's care (with my mother in law, who was living with her, and my brothers who assisted on weekends), mum's doctor's appointments, my own sanity, trying to be the best wife and mother I could be, and working freelance as much as possible.
Despite the 'successful' juggle, there was one variable I was about to find out I could not control - mum's advanced state of dementia, and the rapid escalation into an unstoppable decline.
There is so, so much to be said about this, and a blog post cannot do it justice (you can read about some of my journey in the blog posts on this page in the past few months), and this chat right here with Antonio encapsulates an edited version of my past six very vulnerable, very painful months.
Antonio is exceptional at eliciting the best from you (Antonio's Twitter profile reads: NED, researcher, educator, broadcaster, who loves gardening and occasionally bakes bread).
I did notice during our interview that my Italian was a tad shaky - seeing as I don't use it as much now that I don't converse in Italian with my mother. It's the truth, and that's painful.
But the chat with Antonio was excellent, peppered with some Aussie words when I'd get stuck.
Also, we talked about Nonna Paola! The web sensation who is super hot right now got a mention, as I'd just met her that week. Antonio even played a clip from one of her videos, and we chatted about social media and its place with the older generation. It was lots of fun in what could have been an entirely sombre interview. (You can see her clips here and here and see our meet up here).
You can listen to the whole radio interview with Antonio (it's just over an hour) right here.
And you can listen to my previous interview with Antonio in July 2014 right here.
Love that flattering photo of a younger me ... was a pleasure - and socially useful, I think - to cover the territory with you Josie.
ReplyDeleteThen, today, I was at an Italian feast and heard of a young girl who filmed her nonna. Here's the story:
1... last year, girl bought a rubber egg, on a school trip
2... few days ago, she placed it among normal eggs in nonna's kitchen
3... nonna preparing to bake, starts cracking eggs
4... one egg does not crack 1st time ... trying again ... and again (with Italian commentary along the way)
I have yet to see the video, but nonna is 'cool' with it being showed around!!