Third Summer at Marymount
For the third year running, we gathered in the park and facilities at Marymount.
Our group: about a dozen handicapped children, plus fifteen children of various nationalities to play with them, plus fifteen adults to organize the activities.
Each child found their own favorite way to spend the time. Roberta never tired of collecting pine cones in the park. Paolo played Zorro and listened to his music. Luca and Andrea, our two smallest, preferred dice games, toy cars, and drawing. Carlo and Roberto climbed everywhere and loved the swings.
Nawed spent hours making collages of toy cars. Federico adored the obstacle course. Francesco headed straight for the kitchenette. Rosaria always found someone to play bingo with.
But everyone—absolutely everyone—had one idea in mind: the pool.
Sabina quickly showed us she could swim on her own. Giorgina took her first swim. JamJ found his favorite lifeguard again, Emmanuel. And Emmanuel threw everyone and everything into the water.
What a wonderful surprise to see so many young people from Fede e Luce join us at Marymount.
Thank you, and we'll see you next year.
Annie, Nicole, Yvelise (FAO)
From Cuneo: A First Experience
In Cuneo, we'd been thinking about a camping trip for a long time. After many obstacles, we finally found a place: the Avis alpine hut at Valchieri.
Sharing the same bread—and the same space—with people who had different habits and needs, people we only saw at celebrations, turned out to be genuinely good for us. And honestly, given what we had to work with and how little camping experience we brought, everything went well. We all left thrilled.
Everyone agrees we should do it again in 1979.
Yes, there were difficulties. The schedule, the organization, the activities—they could have been better planned. But for the first time, nobody felt like the expert.
The joy of being together, the treasure hunt, the long hike, Stefano's fever, the crafts we made side by side, the walk to the alpine cottage, the visit to the Entragne dam, Saturday night's celebration, the late-night runs through town (begging for bread and salami at one in the morning), the friendship that grew stronger among us—all of it reminded us, right away, that God is good.
He was good to us that week. Good weather. Mothers who worked harder than ever. Joy that returned the moment a small storm passed. Friends from Rome and Milan. Thursday evening's prayer. Games and singing. Fried pastries. Rice salad that never ran out. Saturday night's party.
Who else but Him should we thank?
Mario and Betty Collino