Lucina Spaccia

I live with my family in Rome, where I was born in 1951. Around the age of fifteen, I joined the Girl Guides, and this choice had a profound influence on my life, inspiring me with the values of faith and a love for nature. I began working with adolescents as a Scout leader, and this shaped my professional choice after graduating in political science. I pursued the most beautiful profession in the world: teaching! I met my husband, Mariano, within a parish community touched by the spirit of the Council, the Transfiguration parish in Monteverde, which formed and strengthened us and where we were married in 1978. The early 1980s were particularly intense: our first daughter Agnese was born, I earned a degree in literature, and I passed a series of public competitions for teaching. The birth of our second daughter, Marta, overwhelmed me at the beginning of my career in public education. Marta was born severely premature, which resulted in her disability. Despite the hardship, pain, and disorientation of those early years, Mariano and I always tried not to lose faith in Marta and... faith itself. We supported each other and allowed some space for our professional lives, toward which we are very motivated. Certain passions have stayed with me always: pen and paintbrush, nature and young people, for whom I am still committed in school and in scouting through courses and educational workshops on citizenship. I have always written for the pleasure of storytelling and self-expression, directing a Scout magazine for many years and publishing some books of stories and spirituality. Currently, I dedicate short stories to my granddaughter. Together with my husband and a handful of other dreamers, in 2013, we founded the nonprofit association Vedere Oltre to promote a culture of solidarity, to implement pathways that help young people and those disadvantaged by disability become protagonists of their own future, to support families in the journey toward independence of their children with disabilities, and to foster the sharing of best practices, the search for educational and rehabilitation methodologies, and... other dreams. In the open spaces of Creation I find myself and new energy to continue looking far ahead.