I would elbow my mum when she spoke Italian in England until I realised each part of my identity is more than just a ‘half’ I favoured the square of carpet between the two flights positioned directly opposite the wall-mounted clock so I could keep an eye on how many pages I could squeeze in before bed has always been the red tiled steps that lead to the front door of my nonna’s house in Puglia There are photos of me and my cousins on those steps at every age I grappled with the question: “Ti senti più inglese o più italiana?” – do you feel more English or more Italian and most of my family live in the heel of Italy’s boot in a very small town of – at the last census – 6,200 inhabitants and the only one who moved any real distance from San Donaci the same way I didn’t always appreciate my second identity My 93-year-old nonna lives at the entrance to the town My aunts all live on the same street and the proximity of family in San Donaci means there’s little privacy certainly no locking of doors – one of my cousins once had to hide a boyfriend in the shower when Nonna let herself in the house without knocking it’s not uncommon to hear the phrase: “A chi appartieni?” – who do you belong to As a teenager, I tried to keep these two sides of my life separate. It has become family folklore that I used to elbow my mum when she’d speak to me in Italian in England. My rules were clear: we speak English in England and Italian in Italy, and we never mix the two. But my mum and aunts never got the memo. At Easter and Christmas the local children grilling me on how best to swear in English and my cousins all did shifts in the Nuneaton McDonald’s in the summer their young colleagues butchering their beautiful names: Federica became Freddy; Salvatore became Torey In time it became clear to me just how much beauty there is in being both I speak Italian with the strong local accent and when my cousins started taking me out to nightclubs I’d switch from one language to the other as my party trick Being southern Italian is a huge part of who I am Nonna finds it painful to think of her grandchildren sprinkled around Europe “Quando te ne torni?” – when will you come back But part of what makes her house so special is how we get all the good without too much of the bad It’s an idyll because we don’t have to look too hard at the cracks like how there are no jobs in the town and the infrastructure is stretched to capacity and can tell she’s doing an internal headcount The grandchildren broke her heart when we all flocked far and wide: Milan it’s also a place that can make you feel anonymous: I’m one of almost 9 million here Nobody is approaching me in Hackney to ask who I belong to – I still get a thrill if I see a familiar face in my neighbourhood so the stairs in my house are communal and not available to sit on I flirt with the idea of having a friendship with my neighbours – like many Londoners I want both to never be bothered by anyone my nonna is something of a local celebrity and has no such problems – when she goes out people stop her on every corner for a chat and she is rarely allowed to pay for her own coffee A huge number of Sandonacesi in their 20s and 30s have migrated to London for work including my childhood best friend – whose father happens to be the current mayor of San Donaci so you see the same faces on the plane every year The joy they radiate is a balm: I just know that they are daydreaming about fave e cicoria and being suffocated by their massive families see those faces and be picked up from the airport by one of my aunts The first thing I will do is sit on the red tile steps with a coffee and a book But it won’t be long before Nonna comes to distract me This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page In the small town of San Donaci near Brindisi Italy an unusual but welcomed guest attends mass at the local Catholic church every day sits quietly by the altar throughout the service He is a seven year old German Shepherd named Tommy and his story is sweet Tommy was adopted by Maria Margherita Lochi when she found him abandoned in a field nearby her home The pair were tightly bonded in no time and scarcely left each other’s side Maria would walk to the church each day to attend mass and Tommy would accompany her The priest would allow Tommy to sit at Maria’s feet He was quiet and calm and didn’t disturb anyone Maria died a couple of months ago at the young age of 57 Her funeral was held at the church where she attended mass daily and naturally has captured the hearts of the entire community Tommy hears the bells ringing to call worshipers to mass each day and he comes along and once the service is finished he goes back outside Tommy misses his companion and their daily routine so he continues carrying out Father Donato Panna told Daily Mail UK ”He’s there every time I celebrate Mass and is very well behaved – he doesn’t make a sound I’ve not heard one bark from him in all the time he has been coming in.” ‘He used to come to Mass with Maria and he was obviously devoted to her – I let him stay inside as he was always so well behaved and none of the other parishoners ever complained to me ‘He’s still coming to Mass even after Maria’s funeral he waits patiently by the side of the altar and just sits there quietly I didn’t have the heart to throw him out – I’ve just recently lost my own dog so I leave him there until Mass finishes and then I let him out His devotion to Maria and the mass services have made their mark on the neighbors and churchgoers They have all come together to ensure that Tommy is well fed and cared for now that Maria is gone Our hearts go out to sweet and loyal Tommy and hope the love of his community helps heal his lonesome heart Interested in learning even more about all things dogs Get your paws on more great content from iHeartDogs We appreciate your business and support! Please allow us to assist you due to the size of your order. Please contact orders@iheartdogs.com to finalize your transaction ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + " Living up to the title of man's best friend these dogs face danger and death to stay near the ones they love "It's all a part of being attached and loved." Here 12 dogs whose courageous and loyal actions say more than words: He attended the funeral and followed his mistress' coffin as it was carried into the same local church His devotion has so impressed the parishioners that they rallied together to care for him giving him water and food and allowing him to sleep in a covered area outside the church while hoping to find a new home for the faithful pup even lets Ciccio sit in front of the altar during service From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com In early August 2011, Kirby, a small black dog whose owner recently died, went missing from his new home. The little pup was found soon after, sitting by his owner's grave lying patiently by the fresh grave of his owner grief-stricken dog that really put a "face on just what a tragedy the country [was] facing," said Sasha Brown-Worsham at The Stir "She just sniffs all over looking for her boy." This "rather unbelievable" video that surfaced in December 2008 showed one dog's heroism in the face of danger — and oncoming traffic another dog dodges cars and drags his severely injured friend off the highway to safety The dog was badly dehydrated and very thin and authorities said it was a miracle the animal survived But his presence prevented Baysinger's body from being attacked by coyotes This article — originally published on Aug When the bells of the Santa Maria Assunta church begin to toll each afternoon in San Donaci near Brindisi, the 12-year-old German Shepherd sets off from the village to get himself a front row seat next to the altar, Il Messaggero newspaper said. His owner, who was known in local dialect as "Maria tu lu campu" -- "Maria of the fields" -- had lived alone with Tommy and three other rescue dogs, who used to follow her faithfully on her daily rounds and have now been adopted by the village. After following his mistress's coffin up to the church on the day of her funeral, Tommy has returned daily, sitting quietly throughout masses, baptisms and funerals, according to local priest Donato Panna, who now wouldn't do without him. 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