Signora Sheila

In small Italian towns, anything can happen. And sometimes it doesn’t even matter if it’s true, as long as it’s good gossip! Like the time they had my husband all but dead and buried! Or at best seriously ill.

We were away most of the summer, as we often are, staying at our summer home and visiting churches.

Our daughter and family, still living in Italy at the time, had gone out with some friends visiting from the north. A slice of pizza and a quiet stroll through the village in the cool of the evening.

Until one of the visitors had chest pains. What to do? Go to the guardia medica, of course!

Now, for the uninitiated, let me explain that the Guardia Medica clinic (emergency care) in many small Italian towns is not a clinic at all. More like an examination table crammed into a crowded room, but with little medical equipment or medicine.

But you will find a doctor. Who, in our experience, usually prefers to send patients to the hospital emergency room. But this time the doctor decided they needed an ambulance!

Village excitement

It doesn’t take much to create excitement in our village. Sirens! An ambulance! Doors flung open as people rushed out to see what was happening. Little old women looked down the street, hanging dangerously out of windows. No matter if they risked serious injury as long as they got the latest news!

No one seemed to see our friend lying on the stretcher. Although a few people must have noticed that it was a man. But they did seem to see our daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren gathered around the ambulance. And no sign of us!

So they put two and two together. It made perfect sense. 

Rumors run rampant

They decided that my husband had been taken to the hospital! And like I said, we were away most of the summer, which added fuel to the fire! He must have had a heart attack and was still in the hospital! All summer long people would ask our daughter, “How’s your dad? Tell him ciao for me.” No matter how hard she tried, she could not convince them that Papà was okay. The village gossip was stronger!

Long after the summer was over, we could hardly walk down the street without being greeted by well-wishers. “I’m so glad you’re feeling better! You were in the hospital for so long.”

Or, if I ventured out alone… “How is your husband, Signora? I was so sorry to hear that he was sick.” I kept assuring them that my husband was not only fine, he had never been sick at all! But they just looked at me as if I’d lost my mind.

What did I know anyway? They were the ones who knew! They had heard the village gossip!

📷 Image credits: man in window