Signora Sheila

I am passionate about my faith in Jesus, my family, simple living, and life in Italy, so I write about these things, and about the challenges of expat/missionary life and living on a shoestring budget.

As an aging empty nester, with both our families far away, I also talk about how God can help us navigate the challenges of aging, facing loneliness, and missing loved ones.

I hope you’ll join me so we can become amici (friends) and navigate the often bumpy path of life together!!

Meet The Signori

God has blessed me with an incredible man, my best friend and husband of 48 years. Though we are nearly complete opposites, we inspire, balance, and complement each other in almost every way.

SIGNORA SHEILA – The nickname given to me by our paesani!

I was born and raised on a farm surrounded by woods in Michigan. As an introvert, I recharge through solitude and find it easier to express my deepest thoughts through writing. Math and numbers baffle me, but I love reading, writing, and creating. (Hence, the occasional creative writing pieces you’ll find here and there on the blog.)

SUPER MARIO – A nickname his prescoolers gave him!

He was born in a poor mountain village in southern Italy, but grew up in the Bronx with parents who didn’t speak English. As a highly outgoing extrovert, he is energized by verbal communication and interacting with others. He’s quite practical and loves math and numbers, but finds writing a challenge.

Our Story

We got married exactly one month after we met. (Yes, we are both impulsive.) But with the Lord’s help, we have now been happily married for 48 years!

We embarked for Italy in 1989 with very little. Just eight suitcases bulging with clothing, school books, and even 8 teddy bears. No support base, income or property, and little money. But we knew that we have a great and awesome God who would care for us – and He has!

We’ve moved over 50 times, going wherever there was need of help. We’ve “enjoyed” some pretty strange dwellings. A tent, a tarantula-infested camper (shudder), and a remodeled chicken coop that was so cozy the chickens kept returning!

We’ve gone without many things, but have also been abundantly blessed, and learned countless lessons on our journey. Especially that God is gracious, good, and faithful every step of the way!

Missionary life has taught us that life’s most valuable lessons often come through our hardest challenges and most difficult trials. Those times in life when joy and peace vanish, and hope seems to fade away.

But it’s in those moments that we come to know God in a deeper way. We discover that He’s a tender and faithful Father who can turn our mourning into dancing. And transform our shattered dreams into abundant blessings – even in the midst of deep pain and sorrow.

Thank you for visiting! I count it a privilege to share with you and am honored by your presence here. I hope you’ll follow me and drop in often!

The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.

Psalm 126:3

📷 Image credits: featured image is generated by AI on Canva; others are mine.