Ciao, I’m Signora Sheila
American-born, Italian at heart. I’m a mom, nonna, and wife to my own personal superhero—my very own Super Mario! Above all, I am a follower of Jesus and have been serving, with my husband, as a missionary in Italy since 1989.
My passions in life are my faith in Jesus, my family, simple slow living, and my dolce vita in Italy. I write about these things, as well as the challenges of expat/missionary life and living on a shoestring budget.
As an aging empty-nester with all my family far away, I also talk about navigating the challenges of growing older, facing loneliness, and missing loved ones—with the help of God.
In short, this is an eclectic blog that blends various topics with my personal musings. I write about whatever takes my fancy, so you’ll find just about anything and everything here!
I hope you’ll join me on this journey, as together we pursue the true dolce vita that God has in store for each of us!
Walking through life with Jesus—this is the true dolce vita, and the journey gets sweeter every day!
Signora Sheila
Meet the Signori
God has blessed me with an incredible man, my best friend and husband of 49 years. Although we are almost complete opposites, we inspire, balance, and complement each other in almost every way.
Signora Sheila—is he nickname given to me by our paesani!
I was born and raised on a farm in Michigan, surrounded by woods and fields. As a partial introvert, I recharge through solitude and find it easier to express my deepest thoughts in writing. I find maths and numbers baffling, but I love reading, writing, and creating. (Hence, you’ll find creative writing pieces scattered throughout the blog.)
Super Mario—is a nickname that his preschoolers gave him!
Born in a poor mountain village in southern Italy, he grew up in the Bronx with parents who spoke only an Italian dialect. As a highly outgoing extrovert, he is energized by verbal communication and interacting with others. He’s quite practical and loves maths and numbers, but finds writing challenging.
Our Story
We got married exactly one month after we met! Yes, we are both impulsive, but with the Lord’s help, we’ve now been happily married for 49 years!
In 1989, we embarked for Italy with very little. We only had eight suitcases that also had to hold our school books and eight teddy bears! We had no support network, 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! (Visit Mission Italia to learn more.)
We’ve moved over 50 times, always going wherever help was needed. We’ve “enjoyed” some pretty strange dwellings. A tent, a tarantula-infested camper *shudder* and a remodelled chicken coop that was so cozy the chickens kept returning!
Missionary Lessons
We’ve experienced times of need and times of abundant blessings, and we’ve learned countless valuable lessons. Most importantly, we’ve learned 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 from our toughest challenges and hardest trials. Those times in life when joy and peace seem to vanish, and hope starts fading away.
But it is in those moments that we come to know God more deeply. We discover that He is a tender and faithful Father who can turn our mourning into dancing. He can transform our shattered dreams into abundant blessings—even in the midst of deep pain and sorrow.
Thank you for visiting! It is a privilege for me to share this space with you, and am honored by your presence here. I hope you’ll follow me and visit often!
The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.
Psalm 126:3
📷 Image credits: featured image was generated by AI on Canva for my blog post I Asked AI; others are mine.