SONO MARIA LUISA BESANA (LA NONNA MARIET) (MH OK)

 

English translation   

I am Maria Luisa Besana (called "grandmother Marièt" by my grandchildren). I was born in 1852, in Bernareggio, a few km from Monza.

My father was called Luigi Besana, my mother was Angela Nava. They were from Villanuova (near Bernareggio). I was orphaned when I was a very young child and I started working very early. They loaded me onto a wagon on Monday morning and took me to work in a spinning mill in Germanedo (near Lecco). I only came home on Sundays. I brought with me a pair of panties and some brown bread. We children spent the whole day with our hands in boiling water to take the end of the silk thread from the cocoon. I had a brother and a sister younger than me. I lived in a courtyard in Bernareggio which, when looking at the church, is on the right. My cousins ​​called Vertemati have always been close to us.

I took Davide Riva as my husband. He was born in 1844, in Cascine Bastoni - Monza. His profession was tailor and postman. He could read! I was illiterate but I had a natural ability to do calculations, which was very useful when we opened the shop that sold fabrics and a bit of everything. Many say I was pretty smart. My grandchildren who were now high school graduates tried to teach me to read but by then I was too old and I learned to spell but not to join the syllables. However, they say I was quite intelligent and ready with a joke. We had 7 children: Guido, Paolo, Chiarina, Demetrio, Giuseppe, Irene (who was very beautiful and shy and who died at just 20 years old) and a child who died immediately.

Davide was a rather sweet and kind man. His father Giovanni, on the other hand, was, as was once customary, a very authoritarian patriarch. On the other hand, his wife Anastasia Majno, who was very small, was very good and sweet. One day our little one died and Davide didn't go to work with the others in the vineyard. Father Giovanni, at the table in the evening, rudely asked him why. Davide resentfully replied that he had been at home to watch his son die. Giovanni slapped him for the tone he used in replying. So I immediately told Davide that I no longer wanted to stay in that house. So we left on the spot and were hosted in a small apartment of uncle Ercole Riva, known as "Erculin", Giovanni's brother. Despite all these trials, my life was peaceful and I faced it with serenity, with my character which was strong and lively. I have had good children and several generations of grandchildren of whom I am proud.