True Story of Love, Promises and Search

True Story of Love, Promises and Search

The story lived and narrated by Davide Perlini is a story of love, promises and search. The former postman from Bologna, Italy, for more than sixty years has never stopped searching for his roots through a long journey of discovery, sometimes painful, and still vivid memories. These recollections are about war, suffering and lost love. The fruit of this love was accepted despite people’s prejudice, difficulties and indifference. The story of Davide Perlini began in 1944, at the height of World War II, in Castiglione dei Pepoli, Bologna, when his mother Fernanda fell madly in love with David Jackson, a Scottish soldier from Carluke, who she met in one of the places where the conflict was most bitter and ferocious. [ Read: The Meeting – A short Story]

True story of love, promises and search
– Written by: Davide Perlini (member of LikeLoveQuotes.com)

“They met because her village, Lagaro, was near the front line. – says Davide – He was a messenger and was younger than her. The love of Fernanda and David was lived intensely for a few months, but it would be lost in the front line desolate countryside and across the border, where the impossibility of being reunited prevailed over the desire to be together. [ Read: Just Another #Love Story – Based on Real Life Experience]

Fernanda’s search was then long and fruitless. In the meantime, she had discovered she was expecting a baby, the fruit of their love, which was shaken by the roar of bombs. In her hands she only had a note with a handwritten address and two faded photographs. It was too little to find David, who was probably already back in his homeland, or worse, had fallen in battle during the final stages of the conflict. The disgrace of bearing a child conceived out of marriage fell on poor Fernanda, who was forced to leave her home and move to Milan to work as a maid, while Davide was accepted into the orphanage of Bologna via Fossolo 36, where he stayed for 15 long years, after which he returned to live with his beloved mother.

At that time, Davide was a teenager growing up too fast, with a burden of suffering and many questions about his origins and his dad. Mom Fernanda could not and did not want to answer those questions. Too much pain and loneliness, too many memories in her heart to fight against the ghosts of the past. “As long as I’m alive, if you can, please do not look for your father,” said Fernanda to Davide. This promise was kept until 2005, when she died at the age of 92. Being released from his promise, Davide began to look for his father relentlessly, writing and telling his story to anyone who could help him in the search for his origins. David Jackson, New Place Tranton RD 16, Bermondsey -London: this address and two photos of his father were the only clues on which Davide Perlini could rely to find an answer to all his questions. [ Read: Timeless #Love – Story]

The turning point for Davide arrived with an email sent by a lady named Raffaella from Matera, who was a genealogical researcher. Having read and seen Davide’s story in the newspapers and on television, Raffaella offered her help without expecting anything in return. At the same time Filippo, a young Italian-English chief editor of an online newspaper in London, also offered his help. One morning Davide Perlini received a very important e-mail that read something like this:

“Dear Davide, I wish to give you some great news: we found your father! Unfortunately he died in 1994, but we found out that he has a daughter named Heather who lives in London. We have found her address, and I’m going to her house to tell her that she has a brother in Italy who has been trying for years to get to know his origins. ” [ Read: Yes, I do! – A #Love Story Worth Reading]

The emotion of Davide, reading those lines, wiped out in an instant all the suffering endured in years of search, tears and memories faded by time, which suddenly became bright again thanks to a simple, short, but very important e-mail that achieved the goal which the many letters of mother Fernanda could not achieve. Today Davide has finally found the other half of his family and has been able to complete the puzzle of a story that will live on forever thanks to the perseverance, passion and determination of this little great man from Bologna: Davide Perlini Jackson. In the photos, his father David.

What do you think about this story? Let us know your views in the comment. Please feel free to share this article with someone who you feel would be entertained or helped by it.