Anghiari si racconta

During Covid lockdown everything was sadder … it was forbidden to go out of the house, we could just come here to our shop. We always had a smile for our clients. Some were very depressed, but with one of our smiles they cheered up – it was bello (good) that we could lift their spirits in the midst of all that sadness. We exchanged a few words, even with people we didn’t know, people who came to our shop because it was impossible to travel long distances to go to a supermarket.

Conversations were short, and with the mask it was difficult to talk. We spoke with our eyes, our smiling eyes, the only visible part of our faces above the mask, we had to smile with our eyes. We could see people entering the shop with a fearful expression – they were scared of catching Covid, of passing it on, concerned about maintaining the correct distance, but we welcomed them with a smile. They smiled back, we could see their smiling eyes. There was always fear despite the masks, but we tried to reassure them, at least while they were inside our shop.

The church? For a time, it was closed, then it reopened, every other pew was occupied, parishioners had to wear masks. It was difficult during mass – we couldn’t shake hands when exchanging the sign of peace, a beautiful moment, we couldn’t do it. Now it is allowed again. We took communion with our own hands.

I had Covid, not in a severe form, thank God. I was at home sick for 18 days. Lorenzo did everything with our shop assistant, then she also got it, and Lorenzo was alone, he had to do everything by himself. It was tough for us, even if we were vaccinated. I believe vaccinations must be done; even if some had side effects, proportionally, the benefits were greater.

I hope it doesn’t start again, perhaps with another virus. Now everything is fine. Everything has gone back to normal, we are again organizing our traditional festivals and events, almost nobody wears a mask, for now all is ok. Fingers crossed it doesn’t come back.