Born in Australia in 1962 and migrated to Italy when she was 8 years old after her parents decided to return to Italy. She lived there for 23 years.
In Italy she studied and obtained a vocational certificate as a secretary shorthand typist. She worked for a firm of payroll e account keeping consultancy and worked for the same employer for 15 years.
In 1992 she decided to visit Australia where she met her husband. They married in Italy the following year and after the honeymoon returned to Australia.
Once settled she decided to study English, first at the Adult Migrant Education Service and then attended a course for paraprofessional interpreting Italian-English at TAFE College, because she felt that although she was born in Australia, it was difficult for her to speak and understand English.
Since 1995 she has been working part-time as a secretary at Com.It.Es (SA), the Council for Italians Abroad and for a while she worked at DBM Construction. Work has always been important for her becuase she had the possibility to meet other people and make friends, something that she found rather difficult here in Australia.
She has two children, Simon, 4 years old, and Ester, 3 years old. After the birth of her daughter, she had to resign from DBM Construction due to family commitments and also because, in the meantime, her son Simon was diagnosed with Autism, a developmental disorder, which is characterised by significant, qualitative impairment in the areas of socialisation, communication, and by a restricted range of interests and behaviours.
As well as work commitments, she is involved with the Management Committee of her son’s Child Care Centre and with the Autism Association.
She went back to Italy in 1999 for the first time since her arrival in Australia, and still feels homesick not only because she misses her parents, brothers and sisters, but because she misses the country, the village (Salvarosa – Castelfranco Veneto, Treviso) where she grew up and that she calls “the centre of the world”. She feels a very strong bond with Italy and wishes to go back for holidays more often.