Contributors
Camilla Scognamiglio
NEPHEWMy favorite memories with our Nonni come from the childhood summers spent in our family house in Castiglioncello. I loved watching Nonna Lella cook and discovering her small, precious secrets in the kitchen. She was ingenious with ingredients, messy but very creative, and she loved hosting. She always remembered everyone’s favorite dishes, making sure they were ready the moment you arrived for the holidays. I cherish those slow, joyful childhood days - the afternoons spent reading with Nonno after lunch, before heading down to the beach. I still treasure his original copy of Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, a reminder of the intimate moments we shared together.
Giorgia Scognamiglio
NEPHEWI can still see Nonno Mario at the entrance of our Castiglioncello house, anchored to his favorite chair in the shade while we arrived from the sea, salt-crusted and sun-drenched. He’d be hunched over La Settimana Enigmistica, doing crosswords with a blue pencil and a makeshift eraser he’d taped to the end himself. He used to call his pencil ‘lapis’. I’d settle in beside him, with that distinctive and nostalgic scent of rubber and graphite. In those moments, the world was just the two of us and the rhythmic clatter of plates from the kitchen, where Nonna Lella and Mum were busy preparing lunch for all of us - especially my favorite dish, breaded sole. Such a beautiful, special memory.
Diana Badalassi
DAUGHTERMy favorite memories of Mum are the ones that felt a bit like ‘magic’, even if for us they were just our normal. We had a sort of telepathy that defied logic…I lost count of the times I’d pick up the phone to call her, only to find her already there on the other end of the line, waiting for me to speak and say “Diana, is this you?”. Or realizing we had bought each other the exact same green agenda as birthday present. It was a little, beautiful proof that we were never truly apart, even if living in different cities for most of our adult life.
SONMarcello Badalassi
‘Babbo’ served a distinguished career in the Air Force, earning both silver and bronze medals for military valor. One story defines him above all: in 1943, while returning from a mission over Malta as a co-pilot, his crew spotted an enemy submarine. Following the 'circles of death' protocol, they attacked and sank the vessel. Knowing that fast enemy fighters would already be scrambled in pursuit of their slow seaplane, the crew chose not to flee. Instead, they lingered over the site for many minutes, throwing lifebuoys and rafts into the water in a desperate, vain hope of saving any survivors among the 44 men. The citation for his medal honors this very moment: that after a successful strike, the crew risked their own lives to save the enemy, proving that even in war, they saw the humanity in their opponents. Years later, upon his retirement, Babbo received a generous pension and immediately gifted it entirely to his children without a second thought. Different times, different parenthood... truly a beautiful legacy.