Norina was the eldest daughter of Anna and Biaggio Palese. She had 4 brothers and 3 sisters. At the time of her death her youngest brother Gigi still lives in the family home in Stallis, Gemona. A few thoughts that I have in thinking about Norina (my Nan) was that she was always smiling, hardworking, the backbone of her marriage loving, teasing and FUN. In her younger years, she was a true Matriarch in the best sense of the word, mellowing in her older years to become a person that everyone just wanted to cuddle. Norina married her husband, Angelino 'Angelo' in December 1938. From this loving marriage Norina gave birth to 3 children: Luci, Renzo and Sandro. Norina came to live in Wales in 1957 as a result of Angelo having worked in the brick yard in Altami for 7 years prior to the move. During the 7 years before Norina moved to Wales, Angelo 'commuted' between Italy and Wales. This was before the advent of planes and involved days of travelling by train and ferry. This meant Norina and Angelo saw each other approximately once a year. Whilst Angelo was working in the brick yards, Norina worked in the Courtaulds factory in Gemona, almost living life as a single parent to their 3 children. In addition to her 'job' both Norina and her children contributed to the family farm, bringing in the corn and grapes. Hopefully you will hear more of this from Luci and Sandro in future posts. Norina's children, Luci went on to have 9 children and Sandro 3. Luci and June (sandro's wife), were the main carers of my Nan and supported Norina throughout her later years, seeing to her every need and treating her like a queen. This love and care helped my Nan recover from Cancer twice - breast and kidney. And I believe my Nan's life was greatly enhanced and prolonged because of their love and care. Unfortunately, it was cancer that was the ultimate cause of Norina's death. From the 12 children of Luci and Sandro, she had 21 great grandchildren and 5 great great grandchildren. No doubt this will not be the end of descendants of Norina and Angelo. My Nan still had a piece of her heart in Italy, and would try to visit her birthplace and brother at least once a year, the last time being in 2010. A true example of how she was loved by her Italian relatives was the celebration of her 90th birthday which was organised by her Sister-in-law Marie and niece Rosanna, at which over 70 people attended. A video of this will also be able to be seen on this site. Because of the number family members and geographical spread of her Italian and Welsh family, we hope that this remembrance site will help capture the memories and essence of Norina to help all of us share in her life and for future generations to help to get to know her better. There are so many stories to be told of Norina's life. A few examples that we hope to post in the future will be 'Che Fata', silkworms, Sant Anaise, Screech, 1976 etc. Please use this site to jot down any memories or stories, upload any photos or videos so we can continue to keep Norina alive both in our hearts and in future generations to come. Val (Granddaughter)