peter
“We fell in love back home in Italy; but soon after we started to date I got offered a job in the US, so we basically started out as a long distance relationship. When she moved over, months later, it was the first time we actually lived together and shared a room with someone. For her, it was also the first time living in a different country so it was really intense for about six months. I’m a teacher and she is an Archaeologist, we both had busy schedules and well-rooted habits… We had a lot of fights in the beginning and we almost gave up, but we didn’t have the option to just run home. So we had to figure it out. Only when we started to cook together we discovered a place, a common ground in a foreign country where we really understood each other. We would spend hours in the kitchen and would invite whoever we met that week for dinner to create new friendships. Just when we were finally starting to feel at home, I got a job offer here in Ireland that I couldn’t say no to. We had to start over again. We knew it wouldn’t be easy, but this time we had our special toolbox, our common ground where we felt at home. Looking back, we’re glad that we didn’t give up, otherwise, we wouldn’t have our beautiful daughter and so many friends around…”
This interview was taken as part of EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum’s Story Collecting Weekend.
EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum and Europeana.eu invited people to share their experiences of migration with us, be it Irish people who had emigrated, or those who now call Ireland home. EPIC tells the story of Irish emigration in 20 interactive digital galleries. It’s a story that spans 1,500 years through history and has left a legacy across the globe. It’s also an experience that many other people and nationalities share. Come and visit us! We open daily in Dublin’s Docklands. Visit www.epicchq.com for more details.