My name is Patrizia Damonte and j am born to Spotorno (Savona-Italy) in the 11 may 1953. My father, 21 years old, in military service to Bresso, near Milan, meet my mother 35 years, married and with a son fifteen. Start a love story and after one year my mother is pregnant, and they go to live to Spotorno on the ligurian coast between Genoa and french frontier and after 7 months born twin babies. Years after J cam to know that my sister was dead at birth and the name given her was Annamaria.
At the birth my weight is 1100 grams, but after 13 days my weight is about 700 grams and j am in danger of life. At that time the conjugal's infidelity was a crime and my parents cannot go in hospital and so look for a expert person that can help them. They find her in a lady 50 years old not married, called with the nickname "Nene". She touches in front of my little bundle and consents to help them. Nene tells me, years after, that she had used the cat's biberon to give me the milk, because j had difficulties to suck. J start to live with Nene and my mother. After two months, my mother, with the excuse that she needs to look for a job, asks to Nene if she accepts to bring up me. Nene becames fond to me and accepts.
J stay whith Nene 11 years and j don't know how many times my mother come to see me, pheraps five or six times. J was serene with Nene but j felt the absence of a father, because also he came a very few times.
Nene was for me a true mother and she was very sincere with me, at 6 years old she told me that the my natural mother was another lady.
She did many sacrificies for me , also to whash dishes in the hotels for touristes and many times we ate only one icecream for lunch and a cappuccino for dinner.
When j am eleventh happens something that upsets my life : my mother comes to the house where j live with Nene and whith very arrogance says: " it is arrived the time that Patrizia comes back to her family " and gives me one week to prepare the my things"
When arrive the time, j and Nene take a train to get the my mother's house (at 30 kilometries) in Varazze and j cray during all the travel. Nene with the death in the heart tells me : " Patrizia! dont cry, j will stay next you everytime of your life, until j will be able", and so it will be.
J start to live with my natural mother but j am not able to call her "mummy", and therefore she arrives also to hit me:
She is arrogant, authoritative, perfidious and wicked.
J spend three years looking for to find a shadow of serenity, and when j think to have got it , happens another event that upsets my life :
j am studing when j receive a phone call from a lady that asks me to send my father Bruno at home, because she is the wife. J think that it is a joke and stop the call, but she recalls four times until my mother responds. You can imagin what happens:
insults and bad words.
So j cam to know that my father weren't married with my mother, till now nobody had said me this. J ask to my mother if this is the only newness, and she says me that there are two others : j have a brother fifteen years older and at my birth j was twin. But j already knew this last newness, because Nene had said me it when j had six years. Sometimes she took me to the cemetery and showing the commun graves she said to pray for her.
All these newnesses throw me in a frustation state ad j start to refuse the life and the food. When my weight is below 38 Kg, j am admitted to the ospital. Only Nene is near me and whith the her loving cares finally j get over from ilness.
Fortunately nothing bad newness happens until to the eighteen years when j know my actual husband.
In the 1973, when j am twenty y.o. j marry and go to live at Rome for two years and then to Naples for nine years. J have two sons with problems of mental disease not diagnosticable at that time. Since it is difficolt to give them a correct rehabilitative way, j and my husband decide to transfer the family in the north of Italy were there are more possibilities. So my husband asks to his company the transfer and obtein it to Genoa. In the 1984 j and my family leave Naples and go to live at Varazze, where lives my natural mother and where there is an institute for disables. "La Nostra Famiglia".
Start a new life directed to the rehabilitation of my two sons. Two years later the them disease is diagnosticate : " X-Fragile" or " Martin Bell disease" , a genetic disease cause of the more important spreaded delay mental, of whom the mothers are healthy carriers.
In the 1986 my true affective mother Nene dies and it is cutted for ever the connection between me and the goodness, but j am sure : from this moment Nene is looking me by heaven.
When my sons are adults j need to start an activity for me, to escape from all these problems and so j decide to begin an seller's activity of house productes and j travel near and far from my city Varazze.
Starting from the beginning of the 90's years, persons that j don't know stop me and, saing hallo, call me madam Damonte. J stay very impressioned from all this and when j go home ask to my mother explanations, and she says that could be a person resemblant to me. J am not very convinced: how is possible that a resemblant person cans have the same family name?, but j don't have elements to suspect anything.
After ten or eleven of such meets, in the 1996, my mother one day, crying, says me that my twin sister is alive and was got at a rich family, of whom she don't knows the name and also she says to ask to my father, because he knows. J call my father and ask what is happened at my sister and he responds me that don't want to say enything about this story, because he has removed it from his mind.
J ask many times to my mother and she gives me always the same version. So j decide to do a comparision between them and when this happens they quarrel heavely, because the version's father is that at my birth he was very far and was arrived after three days and the midwife had done every things: declaration to the register and the burial of my sister. My mother says that all is false, because he arrived at the evening of the same day of the birth and did also an informal party, but at following morning he said her that my sister was dead during the night. J understand the difficulty to find the true and decide to look for myself at the register where j was borned and ask our documents. On the document of my sister is writtten that she was died at the birth like a medical certificate declaimed. Nor this certificate and nor registration's sepulchre are found and there are some others irregularities, but j understand that is very difficult to find responsability after 43 years, because all persons are dead : but my mother and my father are still alive.
Eight years elapse without newness and , since j have started a new job like agent of beauty's center, j go to visit one in Cairo Montenotte at 20 Km far from Savona and the beautician says me that has a customer identical to me with her family name like mine: "Damonte". In a fist time she accepts to help me and says me: " At the next time that she cames to my center, j try to say that a person identical to her is looking for a sister and suggests her to meet me". J wait two weeks and then j phone to the beautician that says me that has spoken with her customer, but she has had a negative reaction and it is no more possible to insist.
All attempts to convince this beautician are vain, she don't wants more help me. J am sure that she had phone number and address of her.
J start serches in this area, but j don't find nobody with that name, and j understand that is not very easy like seemed.
Angry for all these difficulties, j decide to write a book to narrate the my story in the hope that my sister meet it and knows what is happened in all these years.
It is not very easy to write my story, because when j start, after a few pages j stop, but finally j find the right inspiration and j finish the manuscript.
J publish the book in march 2007 with the title : "Cercando la mia gemella - Una storia vera" (Looking for my twin syster - A tru story).
At may and october 2007 and may 2008 j am invited in three televisive different programs to narrate the my story and to send a message to my sister if she would be in listening.
In one of these televisive programs is invited the beautician to witness and she says many things about that her old customer:
The name is Damonte Annamaria, she has married whith an psychologist, she has two daughters or one son and one daughter, and she is an teaching. How is possible!: she will have the same name with the whom she was declared died. J don't know if it is true.
Others three persons have witnessed the their meets with that person so
resemblant to me.
J have tried in all ways to know the true from my parents, but vainly; they say me only this : "my sister is alive and they don't know where she is , and could be far from Italy", but j don' t trust them.
At january 2008 j am been convinced to present an indictement for all offences commit at our birth. My mother is very old (90 years) and is not prosecutable, but my father yes, because he is 77 years old.
Until now nothing is happened, nobody has phoned or send me letters (neither anonymous), j don't know why. J have found at least others ten persons that have meet her, in a total of twenty from 1990 to now: nobody knows where she lives.
It will be true?
Actually j am not sure if she has known my story and has heard mine messages, but my hope is far to die.
J ask exuses for my scholastic english and for possible mistakes, and invite anybody to give me suggestions and corrections: thanks.
