Weekend with the P Family (5/12-13/1979)

Saturday, May 12, 1979
I was looking forward (not!) to a weekend with nothing to do, without a car, and without money...

But heaven sent me Aldo P, one of the two gardeners, who invited me to his house for dinner. After a little wine and Aldo's continuous joking, I went shopping with his wife Pina. I was given the choice of what to have for dinner, and I "unfortunately" chose spaghetti because we rarely had it at the B's. But spaghetti is apparently "Napoli" (and I will let it go at that; it gets no respect!). Pina and friends were going out dancing after dinner, but it was like waltzing. Then their son, Gianni, arrived and it was decided that I go out dancing with him, cousin Franco and the cousin's fiancee, Maresa. Aldo took me back to the villa to change clothes and on the way back we took a ride so I could see more of Nole. To go dancing, Gianni and I went in his 6-month old Fiat 126; it still smelled new! And the cousins in their X19. We drove and drove, seeing a beautiful orange full moon, the lights of the city of Torino below, and San Michele lighted up on the mountaintop. We drove along the edge of Lago Avigliana and stopped for drinks. Then we went to "A Charlie Brown" discotheque, very big and crowded. Gianni and I danced a lot, the cousins minimally. Then we went to Monaterolo for pizza. Smaller pizzas here, which come on wooden palettes. Finally and reluctantly went home. Gianni was very charming and looked dashing in his leather jacket. His usual mode of transportation is by motorcycle.

Sunday, May 13, 1979
Gianni picked me up at 9:20 and then we picked up "Papa" and "Mama" (Aldo and Pina) for a drive into the mountains to Chiaves. First we bought stuff for a picnic lunch, then drove up above the town. We walked around a bit and Gianni picked flowers for me. We ate and generally conversed, it was great. Then we went back into Chiaves for drinks before the motorcycle races.

Motorcycle Race ticket

We had a bit of a wait, but saw all the classes of cycles, including those with side cars. How spectacular! On our way home, pizzas were ordered and we waited for them at a friend's house. Afterwards Gianni and I went to the fair in Lanzo and tried out a few electronic games, then had ice cream.

I had been depressed because it was difficult to work for Signora B. Working with the other children was very rewarding. Their families were always present during therapy and I could "explain" what I was doing and give them suggestions on how to manage their children. 

However, Signora B accused me of only playing with Elena and not providing any therapy. She said she wanted me to do the exercises prescribed by the doctors in the U.S., for two straight hours! As it was, I spent more than two hours a day with Elena, and she had progressed way beyond the "prescribed" exercises. Besides, Signora B had specifically wanted a Bobath-trained NDT therapist who specialized in the treatment of cerebral palsy, and we NDT therapists are more about functional therapy than exercises where you do 30 repetitions 3 times a day.

It was kind of funny in that I had become accustomed to speaking only in Italian, so when Signora B asked me in English to go back to the "exercises," I responded in Italian, grabbing Elena and sitting her on the table to demonstrate that she had too much flexibility in her ankles (after heelcord lengthening surgery, you could flex her ankle so that her toes touched her shin) and that was partly why she stood with her knees bent. I demonstrated a couple of my "exercises" and promised to write out every activity I did with Elena and describe its purpose, and she could show them to the doctors the next time they went.

Unknowingly, doing this all in Italian, the maids eavesdropping from the other room soon understood what I was all about! They later confessed that Signora B asked them what I did with Elena, and it does look like play.

The other problem was that Elena knew how to manipulate her family for sympathy. She ambulated with a pair of metal Lofstrand/forearm crutches, but with me she had progressed to walking alone across a room. We showed off to everyone who was around during the day, so all the maids, drivers, guards, gardeners, etc. knew she could walk more than 10' without falling. But Signora B told me during the weekend a grandmother wanted Elena to try walking and Elena immediately fell down. I just threw up my hands, and told her to ask anyone else in the household how well Elena could walk.

I really felt like quitting the job, but didn't want to leave the other kids... and I didn't like the idea of "quitting."