“This story begins Armo, in a family rooted in religious and patriarchal traditions of the past, in the wonderful places described. Here the stories of childhood and youth range over time and over the course of existential vicissitudes. Stories of a childhood lived in the context of a supportive peasant society. An incredible environment based on strong values of honest work, mutual respect, brotherhood and support. We helped each other. The various moments of family and community life were shared with strong community traditions. Births, marriages, illnesses, departures and deaths”.
Henheart of the ancient Valley of Sant’Agata a Reggio Calabriastrong in its history and place of the heart of the Morabito and Catanese families, becomes the palette where Agostino Morabitowhich he recently accomplished 100 yearsthrough the hand of son Antonio, dips the brush in the colors of his memory. The result is a fresco of great liveliness and depth because his family memory is intertwined with the historical memory of an ancient, partly lost era. An era that this father and son meeting recovers and donates through publication “Apsias. Tales, sayings and motets of Aspromonte”, published by Media&Books. The volume was presented in a packed Piazza Municipio in Gallina on the initiative of the Foundation, which this year celebrates the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Giuseppe Marino in whose memory it is named.
The presents
A meeting punctuated by historical forays and serenades, anecdotes and healthy improvisations that only meetings that reach the heart can fuel. At the table with Valeria Varàarchitect official of the Ministry of Culture, Enzo Vitalepresident of the Mediterranean foundation, Holy Layerspublisher and journalist, and Antonio Marino president of Giuseppe Marino Foundationthree generations of the Morabito family: the author Agostino Morabito, his son and editor of the publication, Antonio, and also the nephew Carlo Agostinoauthor of the preface.
The emotion of the author
“There are so many memories and they all crowd into my mind. Even dreams overlap and I continue to dream of many people who are no longer here”writes Agostino Morabito who in the volume also talks about his beloved wife Rosabianca Catanese. To the audience who came to listen to him he says: “Thank you so much for everyone being here.” A meeting felt by the community which, through the words of gratitude expressed by the municipal councilor Demetrio Marino who presented a commemorative plaque, became close to its centenarian fellow citizen.
“Ours was an exciting collection of memories through memories that dad, with intact liveliness and generosity, is still happy to tell and share. The volume is also enriched with period photographs for which we are grateful to Antonio Gregorio Catanese. The rich archive of family images of him proved to be a precious treasure chest from which to draw to enrich the narrative”. Thus the curator Antonio, son of Agostino Morabito.
To close the meeting the contributions of priest and journalist Don Antonio Denisi and of the vicar general of the archdiocese Reggio Calabria-Bova, Don Pasqualino Catanese. A crowded and participatory square shared this cultural event of the Giuseppe Marino foundation which, once again, returns to the territory History and Stories that nourish the sense of community. Other events promoted by the foundation will follow in memory of Giuseppe Marino, a schoolmate and close friend of Agostino Morabito who, like him, would have turned 100 this year. Mr. Agostino himself, who also paid homage to him in the book, affectionately remembered him as “everyone’s doctor”.
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